Candy Wrapper
by KSipesh
Summary: A piece regarding Tifa's attempt to reach out to Vincent shortly after he joins AVALANCHE. This is not related to my Guilt's Cost universe at all, and stands alone. Finished as of 8302005.
1. Chapter 1

Candy Wrapper

By Kristen Gupton-Williams

(This is unfinished, but I figured I'd share what I've got)

We'd found him three weeks ago under that dilapidated mansion in Nibelheim. You know I, Tifa Lockheart, grew up there, always aware of that so-called haunted house at the edge of town. I never would have guessed that someone was in there, or rather, under there, as the case may be. He'd been in a box beneath the condemned building longer than I've been alive. Somehow, that seems surreal, but he was there. He was there for nearly thirty years.

And then we found him.

He hadn't said much since then, he seemed fairly cryptic about things. Hell, he was cryptic about himself all together. None of us even had a good appreciation for what he looked like, what with that cloak hiding half of his face all the time. And that arm…his left arm. He kept that hidden under the red fabric as much as possible, too. Sure, when he fought it would come out, it was a pretty decent weapon hand to hand, but otherwise, it was out of view. Vincent just didn't want to be looked at, period, and after seeing the ways that the others stared, I guess I couldn't blame him. I, at least, tried not to.

Everyone would forget about him even being with us far too often, as he was either hiding in the corner of the bridge, or on the deck of the ship, staring over the railing at the world below. That's Vincent-- antisocial in the greatest sense of the word.

The others made fun of him, both when he was around and when he wasn't. Especially Cid. Now, I love Cid, I always have, but he can be cruel, and I know that his little barbs got to Vincent more than he let on.

"Hey Sunshine," Cid would start, "we're going out to get something to eat. It's Italian food though, so I guess the garlic's a turn off for you, huh? Yeah, and they probably ain't got no virgins to accost in their beds there, either. I guess you ain't coming."

That's Cid. He doesn't mean to be half as much of a jerk as he is. He's got a good heart, I just wish he'd let Vincent in on that little fact. The guy could use a break.

And that's what I decided to give him.

I'd noticed over the weeks that when Vincent was standing alone in the corner, he would often pull candy bars out of his pockets and nibble at them when he thought no one was looking. It was endearing in a way. Here he was, some supposed former Turk assassin, trying to hide the fact that he had a serious addiction to chocolate. That was one of the first things that I noticed about him that the others all failed to, so I chose to use it to my advantage.

It was late one night, everyone else had turned in for the evening, including Cloud, which meant that I could do whatever I wanted without him keeping his annoyingly watchful eye on me. He wasn't my boyfriend, so I didn't get why he had to act so protective over me. It was…irritating.

In any event, I went up to the deck of the ship in the darkness and looked around. There, as I figured he would be, was Vincent, leaning against the railing, staring down into the depths below. I knew that he'd heard me come up, nothing got past him, but he didn't turn to look. He knew who was there, and he just didn't seem to care.

I walked over to him slowly, intentionally making a little noise as I went, as I didn't want him thinking that I was making some sort of effort to sneak up on him. Still, he didn't look. His eyes were fixed out into the nothingness that surrounded the ship. His mind was elsewhere.

When I got to his left side, I leaned against the railing, mocking his pose. There wasn't anything interesting out there to look at, so I knew that he was just thinking. He seemed to do that a lot.

I knew better than to try verbal communication with him right off the bat, as he wouldn't have answered anyway, and part of me thought he'd just turn around and leave at my intrusion.

But I had a secret weapon at my disposal. I held out my right hand, in which I was holding a candy bar. The same kind that I'd observed him eating.

He looked at my offering for a moment, and then turned his eyes to me.

It was then that I really could appreciate the color of those eyes. They were red, just as red as his cloak. They were like blood, and they narrowed as he gazed at me, seeming to pose the question of 'was I teasing him with the candy or was I actually offering?'

Deciding to give him an answer, I held it closer to him and gave him my most non-threatening smile. "It's for you."

His eyes narrowed even more, and his head cocked to the side slightly. After all of the teasing he'd been getting from the others, I suppose he wasn't sure if I was being serious or not. Slowly, his right hand, that being his normal one, emerged from beneath his cloak. It hovered for a moment between the candy bar and himself as he continued gazing into my eyes. Then, in an instant, it closed those last few inches, grabbed the offering, and then retreated.

He turned back to face out into the night, while he pulled back the wrapper. This was hidden from my view beneath his cloak, as it involved the employing of his left hand-- something he didn't want anyone to watch.

Knowing that I couldn't just stare at him, I faced forward as well, unwrapping the second candy bar that I'd brought for myself. I silently proceeded to consume it, seeing out of the corner of my eye that he was doing the same.

He was actually going to stay next to me and have his candy. I had, in a way, been victorious. I had made contact with something.

I finished my would be dinner first, and stuffed the wrapper into my pocket, knowing that I'd throw it away later.

Vincent finished his shortly thereafter, and he absentmindedly flicked his wrapper out over the railing.

My reflexes are fast, and at that moment, I realized exactly how fast they were. Before the wrapper had gone more than a few inches away from his hand, I'd reached out and snagged it from the air, a little surprised that I'd done so on instinct.

Vincent turned to me, looking almost surprised.

"We're trying to save the world, not make it a bigger mess," I said softly, as I shoved his wrapper into my pocket, but a different one than had my wrapper crammed into it. I'm sentimental, I guess. I intended to keep it and tape it onto a page in my journal. I know, it's sad and pathetic, but I don't have a lot else going on.

Vincent's eyes betrayed something in that moment, something that his cloak hid. He was smiling at me.

I couldn't help it and I reciprocated the expression. There was just something so calm about him. It was getting to me.

His head cocked to the side again, his eyes once more narrowing. "Thanks."

That was the first word he said directly to me. His voice was quiet, brooding. It told more about his past than he could have ever known. He was hurting, and he had been for ages. I wanted to ask what had really happened in his life, but I knew that we were no where near that point in our friendship. I didn't know if we were even friends. I wanted to be, but Vincent…well, no one knew what Vincent thought.

"No problem." That's what I replied with, and I felt like an idiot for it.

Again, I thought I saw a smile flash through his eyes. I'd wished that cloak were gone. It would make reading him easier-- if in fact he could be read. Maybe he couldn't.

He continued to consider me for a few minutes, seemingly completely comfortable with me there. Eventually, he turned his gaze out into the sky around us.

"You're the only one, you know."

I wasn't sure at first if I'd actually heard those words or not. Vincent's voice was not something I was yet used to. I was still looking at him. "The only one?"

Vincent stood up straight, reminding me of the fact that he was well over ten inches taller than I was. He turned to face me square on. "The only one who's made any effort to do anything in regards to me beyond trying to piss me off."

That was true. After seeing how Cid constantly hassled him, how Yuffie was always trying to get her hands into his pockets, and how the other men excluded him intentionally from their conversations, well, I knew it was just…true.

It made me feel bad, as though I was responsible for their actions and I felt compelled to apologize. "I'm sorry about all of that."

"Why should you be? You've done nothing," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest beneath his cloak. The act of doing this pushed the front of his cloak open a little, and the brass that made up his left arm glinted in the dim light.

I realized I was staring and Vincent did, too. Suddenly, I feared that I might have just blown all of the progress that I'd made with him thanks to this small lapse in tact. Inwardly, I kicked myself-- hard.

Whether or not he was hiding behind that cloak, I instantly could tell that he was frowning. He hastily pulled the fabric around him tighter, covering up what had shown.

"No, Vincent, it's okay." I reached out and dared to slip my hand beneath the cloak, knowing that there was a fair chance he'd pull out his gun and fire a well-placed round into my head in the next second or two.

To my surprise, and maybe to his as well, he didn't. He just looked down where my hand disappeared under the red fabric, confounded. Apparently, this had been the first time he'd been touched in any social way by someone since coming out of that box.

My hand was resting on what would have been his forearm. I had thought it would have been cold, being metal and all, but surprisingly enough, it was warm-- in fact, it was almost hot. I guess that made sense. It was a machine, and they tend to warm up when running. I found myself holding onto him and slowly, I coaxed that arm out along with my hand, until it was extended before him.

I met his gaze, making sure that I had permission before turning my eyes back to his arm. Even looking at him like this was something that I honestly felt I needed consent for.

I brought my other hand up, cradling his would-be wrist, whilst my other slid to the underside of his arm. It's strange-- sometimes there are things that you've seen several times in passing, but never get to see closely and when you finally do, you realize it's a lot different than you'd come to expect.

It was covered completely in that brassy metal, the only breaks in the surface being the lines that surrounded the few access panels to the inside, and the joints between his fingers and the underside of his hand. Those places seemed to be made of a leathery material that could flex with his movements.

The fingers were graced with talons, each being about four inches long. They were razor sharp-- that much I knew from watching him slash at enemies on the battlefield. Yet, their curve and the narrowness of them made them seem graceful, almost delicate. I knew better about the latter, again after watching him fight.

Those fingers then did something that I really hadn't expected. They curled downward until they were wrapped around my wrist in return. He was staring down at our joined hands with almost as much fascination as I was. I knew Vincent thought that no one would ever be able to lay eyes upon this part of him without having some sort of negative reaction, but I was there doing just that.

He thought himself hideous and a monster.

I thought that was the furthest thing from the truth.

Once more, I restated what I had said earlier. "It's okay."

I turned my gaze up to meet his. His eyes were blank, not showing what he was or wasn't feeling or thinking at the moment.

I wondered if I'd gone too far, and I asked, "Do you want me to let go?"

Vincent seemed to ruminate about the situation for a moment, his eyes narrowing as I'd now seen them do several times. "No. Not yet."

I watched as he again brought his gaze to bear upon our hands clutching each other's wrists. I couldn't help but wonder if he was debating ripping off my hand or not. I was aware that he was capable.

"I didn't realize how much I can feel with it." Vincent cocked his head to the side again.

I stared down at our hands, not really knowing what he meant.

I heard him exhale deeply before saying anything else. "I can actually feel you touch me. I was aware that I had sensation from it, but not on this level. You're warm, I can actually feel that you're _warm_."

How something that was hot to the touch could relay the fact that I was in turn warm seemed strange, but then again, everything about Vincent was strange. "Really?"

The small sound he made said that he had almost laughed, and his eyes told me that he was smiling. "Really."

"Oh…" I found myself lost in those eyes of his. No one had eyes like those, once more I was staring, but this time, he was staring right back.

We both remained there, frozen for a while, each afraid of what to do next. Something had just passed between us, although, I wasn't too sure yet of what that was.

I found out soon enough.

Vincent brought his right hand out and slowly reached up, pulling down the collar to his cloak in an almost timid gesture, until his face was revealed to me in its entirety. His lips showed no emotion at all, but his eyes did. Vincent was looking for more of my approval. He figured that I'd accepted his arm without any trouble, so he was going to show me what he looked like, too.

How he could have possessed reservations about his appearance I've still never quite figured out. Those red eyes may have been unusual but they weren't without their beauty, and his fair complexion stood out in stark contrast to his jet-black hair. The shape of his face and the slight angle to his brows and eyelids hinted to the fact that his ancestry by far wasn't a simple one. His predecessors had apparently been from more than one ethnicity. Vincent's mouth was interesting. When a thought was actively crossing his mind or when he was upset in anyway, he kepts his lips tensed, so that they were little more than a line. When he was relaxed in mind and body, though, they revealed that they were somewhat fuller than one would imagine, and they weren't pale like the rest of his complexion.

His jaw line wasn't overly masculine, not like Cid's anyway. Vincent's face was actually rather narrow, and his nose was sharp and straight. There was delicate quality to Vincent overall, not feminine, but definitely gracile. Simply put, he was beautiful.

And I was still staring. My expression was just a reflection of his own for the time being.

Vincent was waiting for my reaction, just as he had with his arm a short time before.

Swallowing my anxiety, I brought my right hand up from his arm, and I touched his cheek. I was surprised that he closed his eyes when I made contact, turning his head slightly so that his lips just brushed the edge of my hand.

He was starved for human contact after all of those years in that box under the mansion, and he seemed resigned now to accept whatever I was going to offer. I let my hand slowly glide away from his face, and once I broke contact, his eyes opened again and he looked at me, obviously waiting for something, but he was not going to be the first to make any move. I knew him at least that well.

"Vincent?" I asked, my voice barely audible.

His eyes narrowed slightly as if to indicate that he would answer my question. He leaned just the smallest bit closer to me.

"Wh…what's happening?" I honestly wanted to know. This was a side of Vincent I knew no one had seen in decades, and I was at a loss. I knew what I wanted to happen at that moment, but whether or not he would reciprocate…

Vincent's gaze dropped back to where our two hands still gripped each other's wrists. There was a vague sense I got from him right then that somehow, by not just knowing what he was thinking that I'd hurt him on some level, but he wasn't going to show it, not much, anyway. His metal fingers gripped my wrist with just a little more force. He wasn't trying to hurt me, he just didn't want me to let go. And I didn't want to.

I stood there looking at him as he gazed at our hands again, his right hand still pulling down the collar of his cloak. Then I actually saw it for the first time. Vincent smiled, and I saw his lips make the expression, not just his eyes.

I couldn't help it, and I reached up to his face once more, but this time I placed my hand beneath his chin, guiding him to look up into my eyes for a moment, which he obligingly did.

I stepped closer to him, hoping that I wasn't grievously misreading the signals I was picking up on, or at least that I _thought_ I was picking up on. Our bodies were just touching then, and I guided his metal arm around my waist and behind my back. I didn't care if it was artificial-- I just wanted him to hold me.

And, to my surprise, he stayed that way and brought his face down closer to mine. I don't know if he closed his eyes before our lips met or not, since I closed mine once I realized what he was actually doing. I tilted my head back just enough to offer up my mouth, and soon, it was in contact with his.

At first, he just hesitated with his lips lightly against mine, still waiting-- always waiting-- for some negative reaction at the last moment. Someone had hurt Vincent that badly, and now he had to be reassured at every step. Clearly, he thought this would all prove to be some massively cruel joke at some point. I pitied him.

I took the lead and slid my hand from beneath his chin and around to the back of his neck, bringing him down into our kiss properly. His lips were soft, and as they lingered upon mine, I felt him tentatively begin to part to my mouth a few times before he actually committed to it and the kiss deepened. Vincent was meek about everything physical it seemed, as his tongue would gently cross over, graze mine just the slightest bit, and then retreat momentarily.

It was maddening. Part of me wanted to become more aggressive about it, but I was too afraid of scaring him off. Vincent was like a wild animal in that way. His trust had to be earned, and you had to watch every step, lest you err and make some small trespass to which he'd take offense. We would do it his way. That's how it had to be.

After our lips had been together for a few minutes, his left arm that had gone behind my back drew me in closer to him, increasing the friction between our two bodies. With him being as tall as he is in comparison to me, I was enveloped by him as my two arms coiled around his narrow waist in return. His cloak fell around me, pushing the cold from my skin that I would have paid more attention to had I not been so rapt up in Vincent. But I was.

Vincent seemed to get a little braver with the kiss, and his movements became just a little more forceful, and with the firmness that was now pressed against my waist, I knew why. I had managed to turn Vincent Valentine on. That was a thought that I quickly became fond of. I had done the seemingly impossible. Not only had I gotten him to acknowledge me, look at me, talk to me, touch me, and kiss me, but I had him _aroused_.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- Candy Wrapper

I had started to wonder exactly where we were going to go from there. I was more than a little worked up myself at that point and would have done damn near anything he would have asked of me.

My question was answered soon enough when he pushed me back out to arm's length and he looked away from me, panting to catch his breath.

"Vincent?" I asked, wondering what I'd done wrong to make him stop.

"I'm sorry," he whispered back, refusing to look at me. "I…I shouldn't have done that."

My feelings were immediately crushed. "Why not?"

He turned and placed both of his hands on the railing and looked out into the darkness once more. Vincent's cloak was up again, blocking his facial expressions from me. "I don't do that kind of thing."

I wasn't really sure what he meant by that. "Huh?"

"There was a point in time when I thought that I could be wanted like that, but I learned that such things…aren't meant for me." His eyes closed and I somehow knew that a painful memory was playing itself out in his mind.

I leaned against the railing next to him, unwilling to let him slip from my grasp that easily. "You don't think I wanted what just happened between us?"

His eyes cracked open and he looked over at me without turning his head. "Perhaps you were just caught up in the moment."

"Vincent…" I was at a complete loss for what to say. Just a few minutes ago I'd been so proud to have gotten through to him as far as I had, but now things had returned to this. I guess that bit about pride going before the fall or whatever was true.

As I continued to examine him, I saw the pain behind his eyes. I buckled and dared to ask the only thing I could. "Who was she?"

His eyes closed for a moment and he took a deep breath. Like the others, I'd heard him spout off occasional quiet comments about his failures or sins or whatever he called them and after what had just happened between us, the picture was becoming clear. There must have been a woman that had jerked him around so badly that he'd become embittered toward love. "You do not want to know."

_Damn it, he's shutting me back out, _I thought to myself. My gaze followed his and wandered out into the night sky. I laughed to myself, once more kicking my own butt for having screwed this up. I'd had a crush on Vincent for a while and I'd been foolish enough to think that I'd honestly gotten somewhere. Vincent was now the most enigmatic and impossible thing on the planet, and it just made me want to get through to him more.

I felt his stare and looked at him again, seeing that he'd turned sideways to look at me. Somehow, I knew to keep quiet as anything I could have thought of to have said would have just been stupid or annoying to him.

Vincent's head cocked to the side a little. "Besides, there is the whole issue of Cloud."

I raised my eyebrows. The fact that he thought Cloud was somehow involved with me made me smile. "Cloud? You think I'm involved with _him_?"

"Are you not?"

I outright laughed at his assumption, only realizing afterward that Vincent wasn't the kind of person you should be laughing at. "No, no way. He and I have been close for a long time, but we're not involved like that."

His eyes narrowed in thought, or maybe it was doubt, then again, it could have been both, I didn't know. "He is awfully protective of you, Tifa."

I looked back out over the railing, as my heartache over the entire situation crushed in on me. "Yeah, I know, but we're not together. We've been friends for most of our lives. Maybe I felt more for him than just that, but he never has and after all that happened with Aeris, I don't think it ever will. He made things clear enough."

I saw out of the corner of my eye that he looked like he wanted to say something in return, but he seemed stumped. Surely I thought he was well on his way to figuring out what a complete idiot I was.

"You love him?" Vincent asked after several minutes, his voice barely audible even though he was right next to me.

I closed my eyes, remembering the way I'd felt for him years ago. "At one time, I did, but eventually I came to realize that he was never going to love me back. I know they always say stupid things like never give up on love or whatever, but I sort of did. I have a knack for only being attracted to men that will never want me, I guess."

"It's not a matter of not wanting you, perhaps." Vincent turned to face me again, leaning sideways on the railing. "It could be that you tend to choose those who are too blinded by something else to be able to give you what you need."

"I don't care what it is anymore," I was really upset now, and felt tears coming. "I'm sick of being alone."

"What did you want from me tonight?" Vincent asked me, as though he was honestly interested in picking through my motivations.

"To get to know you. To let you know that I cared and that I wasn't like the others on the ship." I couldn't bring myself to look at him at that point, and I knew I had blushed all to hell.

"I misread you, then." Vincent's eyes betrayed the frown that must have been on his lips at that moment.

I couldn't figure him out at all and it was killing me. "Misread me?"

"Yes." He crossed his arms over his chest, giving me one more signal of separation between us. "I thought it possible that you were seeking…companionship for the night."

_Well, that's not what I originally had in mind, but after the kissing, well heck, Vince, I would have been putty in your hands! _I thought to myself. I guess my expression reflected what I was thinking because when I looked over at Vincent, he looked almost amused. I felt that I had to clear things up. "If you had asked for anything…"

No, I was too damned shy to go through with it and I clamed up. Sometimes, I really hate myself. I'd just made an awkward situation about a million times worse.

Vincent was now as confused about me as I probably was about him. "If we're going to have to be together for the duration of this mission, then we need to clear this up. If I go back to ignoring you and in doing so anger you, then that will just be one more hopeless interpersonal relationship between a member of AVALANCHE and myself."

"Okay," I sighed, bracing myself to lay it all out on the line, "I like you, Vincent. I have since you joined us. I wanted to see if I could get you just to talk to me tonight, and the fact that it went a little further than that…well, I was all right with it."

Yet again, his eyes narrowed. "Why do you like me?"

I hate it when people ask you that sort of thing. Explaining almost instinctual compulsions has never been my specialty. "I don't know, I'm just drawn to you, I guess."

"Do you feel sorry for me?"

He had me there. Vincent had my pity, and I knew he figured that I'd only allowed what had happened a short while before occur because of it. "Maybe a little."

"Don't." Vincent looked away from me again. "I don't want people doing things for me out of pity. I earned absolutely everything that has befallen me. I deserve what I've been dealt."

At that moment, I wanted so badly to go over and put my arms around him that it hurt, but I knew that if I'd done so, he would have left. However, I could see that he was potentially willing to let me in on the truth surrounding him and that was something I wouldn't let slip by. "How so?"

"I am responsible for all of this, you know. All that we're going through…I could have stopped this from ever happening." His voice had taken on a darker tone, revealing the anger and self-loathing that he suffered.

All I'd known about Vincent at that point was that he'd been a Turk close to thirty years ago, and that he'd been put into that stasis box by Hojo for some reason, and that's where my understanding of Vincent Valentine ended. Learning more was, for the moment, far more important than seeing if I could coerce him back into kissing me again. I quietly asked, "How can you be responsible for all of this?"

Vincent's eyes closed and he sighed heavily. I could see the pain wash over him again and it broke my heart. "If you truly want to know, I will tell you, but I'm going to give you a day to think about it, first."

I must have looked confused at that moment, because he answered my question before I even asked it.

"Because you may end up hating me." Vincent then straightened up to his full height and looked down upon me. "If you still wish to know tomorrow, come back after the others have gone to bed and I will tell you my story."

I knew at that moment that he was going to go to his room for the night, and that I wouldn't get anything further from him no matter what I tried. I would still play the game his way-- for now. "Then I'll see you tomorrow."

He nodded at me shallowly, and then walked past me, but strangely enough, he allowed his arm to brush against mine as he went by. For most people in most situations, this would have been just a meaningless accident, but with Vincent, it was more than that. He didn't 'accidentally' touch other people at all. For what it was worth, this simple momentary contact with me as he left might as well have been as significant as a good night kiss from anyone else.

A few seconds later, the door to the deck closed and I was left alone, frustrated and wondering what, if anything, Vincent was going to tell me the following night.

When I'd gotten myself under control, I, too, had left the deck and went below. The accommodations aboard the airship weren't that luxurious and room was at a premium. Cid had taken the captain's quarters for himself, and had assigned the rest of us rooms. Vincent had been put with Nanaki, Barrett with Cloud, and I had originally been placed with Aeris, but now that the other girl was gone, I had my room to myself. Yuffie also had her own room, as Cid had realized that assigning her to bunk with anyone would have just resulted in more theft by the supposed ninja.

So I went to bed, staring up at the ceiling, reliving the evening with Vincent again and again in my mind. I found myself anxious for the next night to come. I knew at some point that I'd have to go get more candy.

A/N- Well, you guys seemed to like the first chapter so I wrote this. If you guys still like it, I'll keep going.


	3. Chapter 3

"They're like little nuggets of fanfiction sunshine!"-- Jobi

You, my dear friend, are a nut!

Chapter 3

The following day we were in Junon. Cid was set on us getting supplied for the remainder of the mission. He had been leading us through town, from one store to another, seeing to it that we amassed all of the items he'd placed on the lists he'd handed out to us.

"Guys, we're never gonna get this shit done unless we split up," Cid growled to us as we exited the third shop he'd taken us to. "Cloud, you're with me. Barrett, you take Yuffie and shoot her if she starts shop lifting."

"Hey!" the ninja had said, crossing her arms across her chest. I found the fact that she constantly took offense to being called on her theft funny.

Cid blew her off as usual and looked over at me. "Tifa, why don't you and Sunshine hit the ammo stores? Keep your neck covered, though."

I glanced over my shoulder at Vincent, seeing that this had gone by him without any reaction. There was a smile that came to my lips and I looked at the pilot again. "Okay."

Cid had shrugged at that point and headed off, taking Cloud with him. Cloud had given me a strange look before following his shopping partner away, but I chose to ignore him. I was just too excited about having been put with Vincent to care about what Cloud thought.

Vincent never even looked at me before turning and walking down the street. He seemed to know where he was going, and I had to run a small distance to catch up. Those long legs of his allowed him to go along at a pretty good pace, and I was pressed to keep up with him.

He ducked into an ammunition shop and I went in behind him. I just stood by and watched him pull several boxes from the shelves. Occasionally, I would glance at the list in my hand that had been provided by Cid, only to realize that Vincent was getting every item on it in the order in which they were written. I found this eerie in a way. He hadn't asked to see the list and so how he was systematically following it confounded me. I had to ask. "Vincent?"

He froze and slowly turned his head toward me, narrowing his eyes in anticipation of me actually posing a question.

"How do you know what to get?" I held up the list.

"When Cid was speaking to us, I looked over your shoulder and saw the list, Tifa." His voice indicated that this had been a stupid question on my part.

I was a little hurt by the way he'd said that, but Vincent probably didn't mean to sound as cold as he tended to. Still, I glanced down at the list in my hand, seeing that it had well over thirty items written upon it. "You memorized this whole thing in just a few seconds?"

After adding yet another small box to the growing collection being held against his body by his left arm, Vincent turned to face me once more. "I have a photographic memory. I know exactly what's on that list, and I will never forget. I never forget anything that I see."

Somehow, I knew that last line had nothing to do with the present situation and I realized I was frowning. His tone had taken on the quiet and pained sound that I'd heard from him the night before. Again, I found myself wanting to put my arms around him, but I knew better. "Oh."

"You can help, you know." He went back to grabbing our needed items off of the shelf.

I cringed inwardly and went to his side, allowing him to begin placing items into my arms. Within five minutes, we had completed our list and I followed him to the registers. Vincent paid and the clerk put our things in a bag.

We headed back toward the airship, Vincent clutching the bag to his chest as we went. I wanted to try carrying on a normal conversation with him as we walked along, but Vincent wasn't talkative, hell, he wasn't even willing to look at me, it seemed.

I looked up at the massive airship once we were beside it. There was just one more thing that I needed to get in town and I knew that I should probably go about it without Vincent. "Hey, I have to go back for a little bit."

There was no response from Vincent at all-- he seemed determined to ignore me for the time being.

I guess I was feeling full of myself and I spun to leave, running off at the mouth a little as I retreated. "No, that's fine, Vincent. Of course I'll be careful."

Although I may have been heading away from him, I knew that Vincent had turned to look at me as I left and it made me smile.

I made my way to the nearest convenience store and went on a search. After combing through their entire candy section, I spotted the same type of candy bar that I'd offered Vincent the night before. This time, however, I didn't just buy two. I picked up the entire box and carried it up front with me.

When I set it on the counter, the woman behind the register gave me a strange look. "You're not gonna keep that figure if you eat this sort of thing."

I had to laugh. There was no way for me to explain to her that these stupid candy bars were very possibly the key to the most difficult place on the planet to get to. "They're for a friend."

She clearly didn't believe me. You'd have thought I was buying a box of condoms or something along those lines from the reaction she was giving me. Then again, those candy bars could have been leading to something dirty so maybe she was justified.

With my purchase discreetly placed into a paper bag, I made my way back to the ship and boarded. I made a half hearted attempt to look for Vincent after I'd hidden my purchase in my room, but he, as was so often the case, was no where to be found. I figured I would just have to wait until that night.

And that is exactly what I did. Just to get Cloud off of my case and my tail, I turned in to my room around the same time as he did, pretending that I was going to go to bed. I waited there for about an hour, until I was sure that everyone was locked up for the night. Then, I retrieved two of the candy bars I'd purchased and headed up to the deck of the ship, making sure to keep absolutely silent, since I didn't feel like explaining myself to Cloud or anyone else.

Up on deck, I spotted Vincent looking over the railing, just as he'd been doing the night before.

I went to his side. "Here."

He glanced over at me and saw the offered candy bar. This time, he took it without any hesitation. Behind that cloak, I thought he'd probably offered me a polite smile before he tore the wrapper off of the chocolate bar and got to eating it.

I, too, got to eating the one I had brought for myself and when I was done, I again stuffed the wrapper into my pocket.

Vincent finished his as well, and this time, he turned toward me and held out his bit of garbage. "I suppose you don't want me throwing this overboard again?"

"Right." I nodded at him and plucked the wrapper from his hand, once more placing it into a different pocket than my own.

That's when I came to appreciate exactly how observant Vincent was. His eyes narrowed at me and he leaned sideways on the railing. "Why separate pockets?"

"What?"

"Your wrapper you've placed in your right pocket both tonight and last night, and mine has gone into your left, an awkward maneuver since you're right handed. Ergo, you must have some reason for keeping my wrappers separate from your own. Why?" His eyes hinted at a potential self-satisfied smirk that he may have been wearing.

I felt myself blush, probably turning redder than I ever had in my entire life. "You actually noticed that?"

"I notice everything."

__

Crap, I can't lie to him. He'll see right through me! I thought helplessly.

Vincent just remained silent, awaiting my answer. He was demanding it in his own way.

"You caught me, and you're gonna laugh and think I'm completely retarded when I tell you." I couldn't bring myself to look at him and I turned to face out at the night again.

Still, he remained there, anticipating my explanation.

"Okay, I keep a journal of everything that happens, and I taped your first candy wrapper in there last night, and I was gonna put this one in there, too." My heart felt like it was going to jump into my throat.

"And what did you write about last night?" he asked, his voice barely audible.

I bit my bottom lip for a few seconds, dying a million deaths of embarrassment. "Well, that I, uh, talked to you for a little while."

"And?"

__

Damn it! We were supposed to be up here to talk about you_ tonight, Vincent! _I looked over my shoulder at him, knowing that my cheeks were still the same flushed shade. "And that you let me see you, and that you kissed me."

He nodded, the motion almost imperceivable. "I see, and what will you write about tonight?"

I smiled at him and dared to move a little closer. "I don't know, yet. I do believe that you were supposed to tell me your story."

The faint hint of amusement that he'd maybe been displaying in his eyes vanished before the words had completely fallen from my lips. "My story. So, you wish to hear it, even at the risk of coming to hate me for it?"

How he could think I could ever hate him was beyond me. I was too fascinated by him to ever consider disliking him for any reason. "You'd have to tell me that you'd killed my family or something to get me to hate you, Vincent."

"Your family is dead, or so I was lead to believe from your conversations with Cloud and Aeris." His eyes kept fixed upon me.

I looked away again. "They are. My mom died when I was still a kid, and my dad was killed when…"

I had to stop, the memory was still too fresh. My father had been killed in the fire that had destroyed Nibelheim so many years before.

"Sephiroth burned your hometown, is that when he died?" Vincent's voice carried that pain again.

I just nodded, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.

"Then hate me, Tifa." Vincent turned his back to me and walked a few steps away. "I killed him."

"What?" I was glad that he'd been looking away at that moment, because I knew my expression had to have been ridiculous. "You didn't kill him! You were asleep at the time under that damn mansion!"

I saw his shoulders slouch and he turned a little to look back at me. "I may as well have. His blood is on my hands, I assure you."

"Vincent…" It was obvious that he was throwing yet another burden onto the pyre of guilt in the center of his soul, and it tore me apart. "How can you say that?"

He looked away again. "Do you really want to hear it?"

"I wouldn't have come here if I didn't!" I took a step closer, not willing to let him push me away.

"Not here."

I was confused. "What?"

"I will tell you, but not here. We need to be behind locked doors." His eyes closed as he turned to let the night wind push his hair back.

He was beautiful. I know I've said that before, but it's true and deserves repeating. My heart rate picked up again, and I nervously made my offer. "I have a room to myself."

Vincent took a deep breath and looked over at me. "That will do."


	4. Chapter 4

Pardon any typos…I'm really tired tonight and just wanted to get this up before bed. I'll edit it better in the morning :)

Chapter 4

I walked toward my room, keeping an eye out along the way to make sure that no one saw me going on my merry way with Vincent following me in silence. I literally felt the hair on the back of my neck rise when I passed Cloud's door, knowing exactly what he'd say if he saw me escorting this other man to my room in the night, but mercifully, no one was up.

I opened the door to my room and motioned for Vincent to go inside, before going in myself and locking up. I went and sat on the edge of my bed, since it was really the only place to sit. Vincent went and landed on the end of what had been Aeris' bed, facing me. There was just the dim illumination of the night time emergency lights in the room, making it seem a little more pleasant than just the stripped down bunk room that it was.

In this darkness, I came to appreciate the faint glow of Vincent's eyes. Obviously, Mako exposure had happened to him at some point. With my voice just a whisper, I finally asked. "So, what's your story?"

He reached up and undid the buckles to his cloak and then let it slide off of his shoulders and onto the bed behind him. That done, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and locked into my gaze. Vincent had settled in for the long haul.

I was just relieved to see him without that damn cloak on. It was going to make it possible to actually gauge his emotions as he told me what he was about to.

"Twenty seven years ago, I was twenty seven years old." His voice was quiet, almost unwilling to relay his tale. "As you know, I was a Turk."

I nodded, this much I had figured out. "Yeah."

Vincent took a deep breath and cocked his head to the side slightly. "I'd been a Turk for a few years, and I was assigned to watch over the scientists in Nibelheim. One of whom was a woman named Lucrecia."

Finally, I was getting somewhere. It was clear by the way he closed his eyes upon saying her name that he had some deep emotional investment in her, or at least that he had at one time. I was frozen in place, afraid of doing anything that would make him stop.

"Even then, I was somewhat introverted, but she seemed willing to talk to me and we became friends after a time." An almost invisible smile passed over his lips. "We became…close."

I moved to lie down on my side, still facing him. Something told me this might take awhile. There was a delay of several seconds between each of his sentences. It was clear that he'd never talked of the past since his awakening.

"I began to think of her in terms beyond friendly." Now he frowned for a moment, letting his eyes narrow in a display of self-disappointment. "Not that she'd ever given me any manner of sign to indicate that she had any deep sentiments for me. Nonetheless, as time went on, I…"

After waiting for a few moments for him to finish this statement on his own, I realized that he'd hit some sort of roadblock in his mind. I decided to give him a little push. "As time went on you what?"

He closed his eyes, his frown returning. "I…fell in love with her."

_Bingo! _I thought to myself. I'd known his problems had all stemmed from some woman in his past, and now I had my first proof. I shouldn't have smiled at that moment, but unconsciously, I did.

Vincent's eyes opened and he caught my look. "Does it amuse you to hear me say that I was capable of loving someone at some point in my life?"

I realized my error and the smile faded. I shook my head. "No, that's not it at all."

"Then what?"

I didn't know what in the hell I was supposed to say to that. I had painted myself into a corner with a simple stupid smile. "I…I'm just happy that you're telling me about yourself, that's all. I'm not making fun of you or trying to annoy you in any way, Vincent."

It was clear that part of him was unwilling to accept this. He seemed to need more of that reassurance that he'd sought from me the night before. Vincent was honestly expecting me to make this all just some sort of cruel joke upon him.

I sighed heavily and moved from my bed, going and sitting right next to him. I was to his left. "Vincent, I really want to hear this. I'm not just messing with you."

He looked over at me for a moment, before dropping his gaze to the floor and sitting up straight. "So be it."

At a loss for what to do to show him that I wasn't toying with him, I reached over and interlaced my fingers through the talons on his left hand and pulled it to my lap. I was going to hold on to Vincent, hoping that it would somehow ground him and keep him aware that I was sincere in my need to learn more about his past.

Vincent looked to where our hands joined, surprised that I'd touch this part of him, even though I'd done so the night before. He looked thoughtful for a second. "It doesn't seem to put you off."

I shook my head, drawing my gaze up to his eyes. "Why would it? It's just a hand, Vincent."

"It's a piece of metal."

"That happens to be your hand." I gave him a faint grin, hoping that he'd take it in the spirit it was offered.

"If you say so." He looked at our hands for a moment longer and then gazed back down at the floor. "In any event, I continued to see Lucrecia outside of the lab as I escorted her around town. When we were together, she would talk to me and even hold my hand at times, seeming to be perfectly at ease in my presence. This did nothing to diminish my feelings toward her. She seemed so genuine in her interest in me, wanting to talk to me, learn about me. Although she was only doing this on the grounds of friendship, I suppose I read more into it."

I watched as he rubbed at his eyes for a moment with his right hand. I didn't think he was crying, maybe he was just tired.

"Finally, after having been in her company for nearly a year, I got up the nerve to ask her if her feelings for me went beyond friendly." He scoffed quietly and shrugged. "She…she told me that although she had some deep regards for me, that she wasn't in love with me because she'd fallen in love with someone else."

I heard his voice waver in his bitter resentment of those words. Vincent was miserable in the memory. I took my right hand out of his left one and draped my arm around his shoulders, then taking back up his left hand in my own. "That's sad, Vincent."

"I know, and I should have handled it better than I did. When she told me that, I couldn't help but question about who it was that she'd actually fallen in love with since she had never mentioned anyone to me." He shook his head. "At that point, she ran away from me and down the street. I never quite figured out what she'd thought at that moment. However, I followed her at a distance, and then I saw all that I needed to."

Once more, I gazed upon him as he paused. With my arm around him as it was, I felt his body begin to tremble slightly. My heart ached for him.

"She ran right to Professor Hojo and into his arms. Lucrecia had fallen in love with a man that I'd come to appreciate as a monster. I had seen his idea of scientific experimentation and I knew that he was above all else a sadist bent on harming others for his own gratification. Part of me, though, doubted that she did really love him. I think the truth of it was that she loved her job more than anything, and getting Hojo's favors would allow her to advance her career. With this in mind, I faded into the shadows, still watching her, waiting for the moment when she would tell me that she had made a mistake. And wait I did. I didn't hassle her, I rarely even spoke with her, not wishing to annoy her. I figured that as long as she carried on as though she was happy, that I would be happy myself." He stopped and turned his head to look at me.

I offered him a sympathetic nod. To hear how he'd just resolved to leave this woman to figure out her own fate while he suffered in silence wrenched something deep within me. It reminded me of how hurt I'd been when Cloud had fallen in love with Aeris, even though I'd been the one with him all of his life. I knew what it was like to be thrown to the side. It sucked.

Vincent hung his head, and his shaking seemed to get a little worse. "She married him."

This had my attention. "Hojo's married?"

"Was."

I waited for his explanation.

"They got married and still I kept my silent vigil, thinking it not my place to intervene. Finally, one day, she went out and I was sent to escort her. As we walked along, she told me she was pregnant." Vincent reached up to his eyes again, and this time I realized that he was pushing back tears. It was clear by his voice. "That killed me to hear that. She then went on to tell me that Hojo was going to allow her to be a part of his Jenova project by injecting her with the cells from that…thing…in order to see their effect upon the baby."

I gasped in my horror. "Inject a pregnant woman with something like that for an experiment? That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard of! How could she let him do that to her?"

"Again, to Lucrecia, it was all a matter of doing what she felt she needed to in order to get recognized for her work for the company. Right then and there I should have killed Hojo and taken her away. Yet, I did nothing. I let events unfold as they did." He was down right shaking now, his composure cracking before me. "The Jenova began to poison her body and she fell ill. I watched her deteriorate as her pregnancy progressed. Only after things had gotten too far did I decide to act. Lucrecia went into labor and had the baby, but the stress of the Jenova along with what she'd gone through to have that infant proved too much. She died."

"Oh my God, Vincent, I'm so sorry!" I pulled him closer to me, wanting only to comfort him.

"Not as sorry as I was." He got up from the bed, pulling out of my reach. "I went into the lab where Hojo was, determined to kill him, but before I had a chance, I was shot and killed."

I had to question him on this. "Killed? Vincent, you're alive."

"I am very much dead, Tifa." Vincent turned to face me and slowly began to unbutton his shirt. With the front of it opened, he came over and knelt before me, allowing the article of clothing to slip down his arms, exposing his torso to me.

Even in the dim light, I could appreciate what had been done. There was a long Y shaped scar running down his chest, and it was flanked over his heart by several bullet wounds that had long since healed, leaving just white starburst marks upon him. I could see that Vincent had been shot in the chest at least three times. Without giving it much thought, I reached out and ran my hand down his chest. I looked up at his face, seeing that his cheeks were marked with tears. "Good God, what did he do to you?"

He remained in place before me, gazing down to where my hand still rested against his body. "He cut me open, put me back together so that I would live for the purpose of more torture."

I shook my head. How someone could be this cruel to another human being was beyond me and my understanding at that young an age. "Torture?"

Vincent raised his left hand slowly. "So-called experiments. The first of which was his desire to see if he could hook cybernetic limbs onto humans in such a way that they'd have sensation and acceptable ranges of movement. Of course, I was not an amputee when he got a hold of me."

I understood well enough, and took his metal hand between my own once more. "He…he cut off your arm?"

"While I was awake."

I felt nauseous and turned away, not wanting to throw up on the guy if my stomach decided to turn.

"Tifa?"

I looked up at him after getting a grip again. "Yeah?"

"Do you want me to stop telling you?" His eyes were so mournful at that moment, dimmed with tears and the burden of his memories.

I knew that Vincent's relating of this story to me was helping him in some way and I couldn't let him stop now. I straightened back up and placed my right hand against his cheek, feeling the wetness of his silent tears. "No, I want to know all of it."

He reached up and covered my hand with his own, before turning his head slightly and kissing my palm. This sent shivers down my spine, even though I knew this was not the time to be getting turned on by him. After letting his lips linger against my hand for a few seconds, he pulled my hand down and placed it over his heart, where I could feel it beating frantically within his body. Vincent opened his eyes and looked into mine. "He did many, many terrible things to me, Tifa. I was cut open, injected, tortured, and…"

I saw more tears in his eyes and I leaned a little closer to him. "And?"

Vincent looked away from me. "Raped."

I stopped breathing for several seconds, not believing that Vincent had just revealed such a thing to me. I was horrified. "That bastard…"

"What he did to me personally wasn't the worst of it, though." Vincent met my gaze again, his eyes showing me a depth of emotion that I'd never seen in another human being.

"How could anything be worse than all of that?" I asked, feeling tears in my own eyes.

"Lucrecia's baby…" Vincent reached up and pulled the red strip of fabric from his hair, allowing it to fall loose. "He made me watch his experiments upon the baby."

"What? He experimented on his own child?" I placed my hands upon his shoulders, wanting to shield him from the misery he was in.

"Yes." Vincent shrugged weakly. "I have no idea how long I lived like that, strapped to a table, being tortured and watching him do the unspeakable to that baby. But one day, he seemed to lose his fascination with me and I was placed into that stasis box after being injected with one last chemical. I think that last drug was what put Chaos into me."

"Vincent…" I couldn't resist and I pulled him forward and against me. We cried against each other for a little while, but once I got myself together, I asked, "But I don't understand how any of that makes you responsible for what we're going through now."

He pulled back a short distance and placed his right hand against my face, brushing away my tears. "Have you not figured it out?"

I was too upset at his tale to think very well at the time. I shook my head.

"Tifa," his voice was barely audible, "that baby…was Sephiroth."

I gasped again, but didn't know what to say. Finally, I came up with the only thing I could manage. "That doesn't make this your fault, Vincent."

Vincent shook his head. "Yes, it does. I could have prevented all of this if I'd taken Lucrecia away or if I'd killed Hojo. Countless lives could have been saved. I watched the woman I loved sacrifice her life to a madman and a job. How can I ever live with that? I am responsible for everything that has happened at Hojo's and Sephiroth's hands since that time."

"No, you're not!" I hadn't really intended to raise my voice at him, but the emotions in the air got the better of me. "You didn't know. In fact, stepping aside and trying to let her find her own happiness…that just tells me how much you cared."

"I could have stopped her from dying, Tifa. I could have stopped Hojo from turning that baby into a monster. And I will live forever knowing that." Vincent closed his eyes, leaving his lips slightly parted as he continued to envision those past nightmares.

I didn't know what else to do and I pulled him close again, allowing my lips to meet his.

Vincent gave in for a few seconds, but then got up and backed away. "Tifa…"

"What?" I stood up as well, clasping my hands before my chest.

"Don't waste your affection upon me." His eyes narrowed, and a frown played across his lips. "I'm not worth it."

That was the farthest thing from the truth as far as I was concerned. He was worth my affection, and in fact, I wanted nothing more than to give it to him. If _anyone_ deserved it, it was sure as hell him. I took a step closer to him and placed my arms around his waist. "Yes, you are."

"Why?"

His constant need for explanation was something I was having a hard time coping with. "Because I care for you, Vincent. This didn't change that."

"Do you honestly or is it just pity?" he asked, paralleling the question he'd posed to me the night before.

"I'm not going to lie, I do feel sorry for you to some degree, but Vincent, I was attracted to you before hearing this. I've liked you all along." I rested my head against his bare chest, hearing his heart racing within. "How often am I going to have to say that?"

"You sincerely wish to be with me?" I felt him rest his cheek against the top of my head.

I loved the way he felt in my arms and against my body. "Vincent, I wouldn't be here like this now with you if I didn't."

He brought me out to arm's length and gave me a faint smile. "Tomorrow night, come and find me again. You have another day to think it over."

I knew he was cutting me off for the night and that there was nothing I could do about it. But before he fled, I had one small request. "Can I at least have a kiss?"

Vincent reached up and placed his right hand behind my neck, pulling me to him. His lips met mine again, parting just momentarily so that his tongue could cross over just once before he pulled away.

After that, I wrapped my arms around myself and watched as he put his shirt back on properly before grabbing his cloak and the fabric strip for his hair. Vincent went over to the door and looked back over his shoulder at me. "Goodnight, Tifa."

I managed a smile through my disappointment. "Goodnight. Vincent?"

He looked at me, awaiting my continuation.

"Thanks, I know that wasn't easy for you." God, I just wanted to hold him some more, but I knew that it wasn't going to happen that night.

Vincent smiled that nearly invisible smile of his and met my gaze. "Thank you for letting me do so, Tifa. I honestly believe that you do care."

With that, he unlocked the door and left me for the night. It would be another day and another candy bar before I got any further.


	5. Chapter 5

Do keep in mind that this story is being written for the purpose of posting on the adult fanfiction site... If that means anything that might offend you, or you're not accustomed to my writing style...well, then uh, go away.

"Eyes that watch the world and can't forget…"

Candy Wrapper, Chapter 5

The next day I was absolutely exhausted. For starters, by the time Vincent had left my room it was nearly one in the morning, and after that, I hadn't been able to sleep much, being too torn up about what had happened to the poor guy in his past. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I'd cried plenty for him, because I had. When I did manage to fall to sleep, it was probably close to four in the morning, and then the intercom on the ship blared to life at six fifteen, as Cid ordered all of us to get our 'lazy asses the hell out of bed'. The guy gets up at like zero dark thirty every day and thinks that the rest of us should, too. One day, I _will_ pull the stick out of Cid's ass.

In any event, I got up and slogged off to the mess hall, finding everyone else there looking about as tired as I felt. I picked up my small ration and landed across from Vincent. He was sitting alone at the small table in the corner. As I did this, I saw Cloud turn to look at me, since it had sort of been my routine all along to sit with him during our occasional meals on the airship. I guess he wanted some sort of explanation but too damn bad for him, I figured. I didn't feel that I owed Cloud anything after the whole bit with Aeris. If he didn't like the fact that I was interested in spending time with Vincent, that was his issue. He'd had no problem ditching me the second she came into our lives, so there was no reason that I should feel bad for wanting to be with Vincent, right?

Vincent looked up at me, having already finished his ration. "Tifa."

I gave him a smile. "How are you today?"

His head cocked slightly to the side and he looked away. "You really ought not sit with me."

That hurt my feelings and I frowned. "Why not? I thought…"

"Tifa, is has nothing to do with how I feel about you." He looked into my eyes again. "It has to do with the fact that they will make fun of you if they believe that you are interested in me in any way."

"Who cares what they think?" I'd shot back, not liking the idea. "You know, all day yesterday when we were with the others, you ignored me completely. You can't be someone's friend and act like that."

"Tifa, as I said, it's got nothing to do with my feelings for you. I am merely trying to save you from becoming the butt of their jokes. Turn around." Vincent looked away from me again.

I slowly did as told and turned in my seat. Everyone else was huddled around the usual table, staring at me and Vincent.

"Go over there before they get any ideas," I heard Vincent whisper.

I knew that I had to do as he asked and I picked up my ration and reluctantly went over to the others. I sat at Cloud's side, the conversation going on at the table stopping immediately upon my approach. After getting settled, I pulled the foil off of my meal and began to pick through it.

Cloud was staring at me, and I was doing my best to not notice, but finally he nudged me with his elbow, making me look at him. "Tifa?"

"What?"

He motioned over to where Vincent was still sitting. "What the hell was that?"

I turned and looked him square on. "What in the hell was what?"

"Going over there and sitting with Vincent?"

I knit my brows. "So, I can't even talk to other people without you questioning me?"

"Not him you can't." Cloud didn't look pleased. "You don't know a damn thing about him, Tiff. All of us pretty much agree that he's way far out there, and you have no idea what he's capable of. Hell, some of us aren't even sure that he's really on our side."

I know that my jaw dropped upon his insinuation of Vincent perhaps not honestly being on our team. "How dare you! You have no idea what he's been through, Cloud. If anyone has a vested interest in seeing an end to all that's going on right now, it sure as hell is him!"

Cloud cocked an eyebrow at me and narrowed his eyes. "And you do have some sort of idea? How's that possible? The guy's said like two words to all of us since he's been here!"

I glanced back to where Vincent had been sitting, to see that he'd left the room, and for this, I was glad because I was about to unload on Cloud. "Maybe if you and Cid and everyone else stopped being complete assholes to him he'd be a lot friendlier!"

I now had Cid's attention as well. He raised his fork and pointed it at me. "Don't be draggin' me into this bullshit. You wanna fight with your fuckin' boyfriend you go right on ahead, but you leave me out of it."

I stood up, sending my chair crashing back to the floor. "He's not my boyfriend, Cid! And you _are_ a jerk as far as Vincent's concerned. You don't even call the poor guy by his name! Why are all of you so mean to him?"

"Because the son of a bitch refuses to be a part of this group. He's hangin' on our coattails, ridin' with us through this nightmare. He's the jerk, Tif, not us. What has he said to anybody on this ship that hasn't been riddled with sarcasm? Hell, most of the time when he's addressed, he just ignores whoever's speaking." Cid leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah," Cloud agreed, "and if you think that you can be his friend, then you're wasting your time. What about him could possibly appeal to you anyway?"

That was it, I'd had it. "Probably the fact that he's the kind of guy that only says things he means, Cloud. So if Vincent tells me that he cares about me, he'll stick by it, not just blow me off the second something he thinks is better comes along, unlike you!"

Everyone at the table's eyes went wide, not believing that I'd gone there.

And I'd gone there.

"You're trying to make me jealous by pretending that you like Vincent?" Cloud openly laughed. "You've got a problem."

"You're the most arrogant son of a bitch I've ever known! No, I'm not trying to make you jealous at all! I'm trying to find someone on this ship who I can actually relate to and be friends with, because it sure as hell isn't you anymore, Cloud!" I clenched my fists, ready to strike him if he dared to say anything to me in return.

Cloud scoffed at me and looked back down at his ration. "Whatever, Tifa."

I'd pretty much lost my appetite at that point and resolved that I was going to leave. I shot Cid a glare while I was at it and then ran from the room. I heard Cid say something to Cloud as I went out, but I couldn't make out what it was, and I probably didn't want to know.

Not knowing what else to do and so incredibly pissed that I was shaking, I ran to my room and flung myself down upon my bed. I cried for a few moments, before reaching under my bed and groping around, searching for something. After a few seconds, I found what I wanted and pulled out the box of candy that I'd hidden there the day before. I took out one of the bars, deciding that I really was sort of hungry and this was the best I was going to be able to do under the circumstances.

As I pulled the wrapper back, I about jumped out of my skin when I heard someone behind me.

"That is not acceptable for breakfast."

I leapt off of my bed and saw Vincent standing inside my door. He'd slipped in completely without my notice. "It's not acceptable to sneak up on people like that!"

He immediately looked away. "Well, it wouldn't do to have my arrival here potentially noticed by anyone, especially after what just occurred because you happened to sit by me for a few seconds."

I felt bad and sat back down on the edge of my bed, taking a bite of my candy bar. "Fine. No one can ever know that we're friends. Got it."

He may have been hiding behind that stupid cloak, but I could see him wince from my words. Vincent came over and sat on Aeris' bed. He outstretched his right hand toward me.

I looked over at him sitting there like that, somehow knowing what he was after. After reaching back, I pulled out another of the candy bars and then tossed it at him. "There."

"What did they say to you after I left?"

I kept my gaze focused on my candy bar, not really wanting to rehash it. "Nothing that you probably didn't already figure out."

"I see." Vincent turned his attention to his treat and unwrapped it, quickly getting to the task of eating it.

I watched him-- no, I stared at him, not really caring at the moment what he thought about me doing so. I had just been given a little glimpse this morning, thanks to the others, of what it was like to live as the object of their ridicule. The fact that he'd always remained so cool about it, basically tuning it out I found amazing. "How do you put up with it?"

"The knowledge that there is a greater good to be accomplished. What I have to endure to see to that end is insignificant." He took his last bite, and then just held the empty wrapper out to me.

I took it from him and placed it upon the bed behind me, then wadding up my own and tossing it over toward the small wastebasket.

Vincent watched me do this and shook his head slightly. "Your journal is going to be nothing more than a repository for my garbage."

That didn't necessarily seem like a bad thing to me. "So?"

Clearly he didn't know what to say in reply to that.

Suddenly, there came a furious pounding at my door. I looked over at Vincent. "Crap."

He met my gaze for a moment and then got up and walked to the far corner of the room, out of the view of whoever was at my door.

I went to answer, as the pounding came again, louder. "Open the fuck up!"

Already knowing that it was Cid, I opened the door just a little bit and looked at the pilot. "What?"

He seemed a little embarrassed. "Uh, look, I know you got pissed this morning, and I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."

I cocked an eyebrow, not really sure why Cid was here, seeming to apologize. "Okay… It's just that you guys…never mind. You all showed me exactly what kind of people you are this morning."

Cid was going to say something in his defense, but I didn't give him the chance as I slammed the door in his face and locked it. I heard him on the other side for a moment, huffing and cursing under his breath before he retreated.

With that taken care of, I went back over and sat on my bed, with Vincent emerging and sitting across from me again.

"Now I've driven a wedge between Cid and you," Vincent said quietly.

"He's a pain in the ass and he's getting what he deserves." I shook my head, still incredibly angry with both the pilot and Cloud.

"You and Cid got along well before this. In fact, I think that you're the only one on this ship that he treats like a human being." Vincent wasn't looking at me, keeping his eyes fixed upon the door, apparently waiting for someone else to come by.

That was true. The pilot had opened up to me more than anyone else on the ship and I did like him, or at least I had until his comments about Vincent had gotten to me. "Cid's a decent guy on some level, he's just crass and overbearing. He's got a good heart, but I'm starting to see that it's selective."

"I don't want to cost you your friends, Tifa."

"Damn it, Vincent, if they're willing to turn on me because I like you then they aren't really my friends, are they? Real friends don't do that." I crossed my arms over my chest, upset about everything.

"I've not had many friends. I guess I wouldn't know."

I got up from my bed and went to Vincent's side, sitting next to him. "You do now. At least one, in any event."

Vincent closed his eyes for a moment and then turned his head toward me. "Just friends?"

The way he said that to me told me volumes. To Vincent, we were already far more than friends. All of the rest of my anger and misery over the morning faded in that instant and I smiled. "No, not as far as I'm concerned."

"Me neither."

I sat there staring into his crimson eyes for a while, wondering what was going to happen next.

Vincent reached up and undid the buckles to his cloak, allowing it to fall back and away, as he'd done the night before. I could see the smile that graced his lips. "Your life is going to be hell with the others, you know."

"I don't give a damn about them anymore." I leaned a little closer to him, knowing what I wanted.

Vincent reached up with his right hand and placed it against the side of my face. "Tifa, are you certain?"

I wasn't sure what he meant by that, it could have been two things. "Huh?"

"Are you certain you want to be with me?" I could see the seething emotion beneath his placid expression.

"Yes, I do."

"You honestly wish to waste your first time with me?" Vincent asked, his eyes narrowing.

Okay, now how he knew that I was still a virgin at my age was a little spooky. For God's sake, I lived in the slums and worked in a bar. By all accounts, he should have thought that I was a slut, not a virgin, but I was and he'd called it. I couldn't help but ask, "How do you know?"

"Subtle signs." Vincent's head cocked to the side and his hand slid from my cheek and beneath my chin. "However, you need not feel self-conscious about the fact. It's refreshing to know that there are others who have made it into their twenties without ever having done it."

This was a strange statement, and I'm guessing that my expression reflected that. "What?"

"Aside from Hojo forcing his way upon me, I've never…" Vincent looked away and actually blushed. I just about died.

"Wait, you were twenty seven years old, a Turk, and you're a virgin?" I couldn't believe it. The Turks I'd known were the most immoral whoring bunch I'd ever met. And no, I didn't think that Hojo's rape counted as far as taking his virginity. That was something different completely.

"It isn't a job requirement or any such thing." Vincent offered a shy smile. "I was ridiculed by my fellow Turks for my lack of cavorting, I will admit."

This seemed far-fetched to me. Quite frankly, with as good looking as Vincent was, introverted or not he should have been fighting off women left and right. If he'd been anyone else, I would have thought he was messing with me, but in the case of Vincent Valentine, I knew better. "Okay."

He moved closer to me and I closed my eyes, soon feeling his lips upon mine. The chocolate that he'd just had still lingered, sweetening the kiss. I parted my mouth to Vincent, inviting him in and he obliged. I brought my hands up and framed his face, keeping him held to me, unwilling to let him slip away like he had that first night.

Vincent's right hand that had been beneath my chin moved downward until he was where he could slide it around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

He sat back after a few minutes and looked into my eyes, gauging my reaction. Vincent smiled the smallest amount and then pulled the strip of fabric from his hair, so that it fell free like it had the night before.

I couldn't resist and I ran my hands through his hair, having wanted to do so for a long time. I've always been a sucker for long hair on guys, and Vincent's was beautiful.

Vincent closed his eyes briefly while I toyed with his tresses. Eventually, one of his eyes cracked open and looked at me. The look on his face showed that he was still in some disbelief that I was so fascinated by him.

"I've never seen anyone like you," I confessed quietly, letting my hands trail down to his shoulders. "You're amazing."

Vincent looked to the side. I could almost hear into his mind as he questioned himself about being a freak. Obviously, Vincent didn't know how to handle a compliment at all.

I placed my hands on the sides of his face and made him look at me. "Vincent, at some point you're going to have to accept that I'm not lying to you."

"I know you're not, it's just that I cannot understand someone being interested in me. No one has ever been." His eyes were burning with emotion again, and I feared that he was going to flee once more.

I pulled him in for another kiss, tangling my hands in his hair in the process. The movements of his lips against mine were becoming a little more forceful like they had night before last, and I knew what that meant.

Vincent moved from beside me and stood up. "Tifa…"

_Damn it! How difficult can this be?_ I wondered to myself. I gazed at him, panting to catch my breath. "What, Vincent?"

He backed away until he was beside my bed and then sat down upon it. "I don't think that we should be on Aeris' bed, that's all."

My relief and amusement was clear and I giggled to myself before getting up and going over to him. He reached out a hand for me and I took it. Vincent pulled me down against him as he lay back upon the bed. The act of doing this knocked the box of candy bars from the bed and down onto the floor but neither of us seemed to care much about that.

I was lying on top of Vincent, smiling down at him. His expression, for the first time that I'd ever seen, actually looked…happy. I kissed him again deeply, and felt his hands wrap around my back, holding me tightly against him. I groaned into his mouth quietly when I noticed that firmness again pressing against my waist. Vincent's body seemed willing. Instinctively, I moved so that his arousal was closer to my own, and I increased the friction between our bodies there, causing him to gasp.

He pushed me back a little and looked at me. I could see the lust in his eyes and it made me that much more anxious. We may have both been virgins, but we were old enough to know what we were supposed to do.

Vincent's lips were still parted and he licked them before managing to say what he felt he needed to. "I'm not going to be able to stop if we go much further."

"I don't want you to stop…ever," I whispered back to him, pressing my hips downward against him once more, causing him to catch his breath.

That was it, the last barrier Vincent had was broken.

He flipped me off of him and rolled on top of me, kissing me in desperation as his hips rocked against me, needing more of that friction between us. His right hand snaked between our bodies, grazing over one of my breasts. This sent another wave of passion through me and I writhed beneath him, displaying my approval of his touch.

Vincent's breaths were being drawn in quickly, and when his lips finally ventured from mine and down to my neck, I felt the heat of his mouth against my skin, driving me mad. I'd never been that worked up in my life and it was all because of Vincent.

His right hand grasped the bottom edge of my halter-top and he pulled it upward, until my chest was exposed to him. I heard him growl deep in his throat as he looked at me approvingly for a few seconds, before he dipped back down and let his mouth and tongue graze against first my left breast, and then my right.

This made me move beneath him more, as these new sensations increased the warmth I was feeling within my body. My hands ran through his hair and against his neck as he suckled at me gently. I was moaning quietly as he teased my flesh with his lips, wishing that I could get my hands upon more of his body.

Vincent moved to lie beside me and brought his mouth back up to my own. Finally, I was in a position to touch him and my hands found their way to the belts that were always cinched around his waist. I had them undone quickly, and I felt Vincent shudder against me as his own anticipation got worse.

I unbuttoned his pants and pulled down the small zipper there, before allowing my right hand to slip beneath his boxers.

Now, I may have been a virgin, but I had gone through a few boyfriends in my day, and this wasn't the first time I'd touched a male in this state. However, most of them had been gawky teenagers, not full grown and matured men. As my hand ran down Vincent's length, I came to appreciate that there was a lot more to him than any other male that I'd ever touched.

At my touch, Vincent's previous silence was broken and he threw his head back and groaned deeply, reaching down and grabbing my wrist, halting further stroking. I had apparently brought him very close to the edge with just these first few seconds of contact. He pulled my hand away from him and brought it up to his mouth, kissing it gently before letting it go. He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Careful…"

I smiled and nodded at him, resolving to not ruin the experience by driving him to that point before we got to do what we really wanted.

Vincent's right hand then found its way to my thigh and it slowly slipped up and beneath the short miniskirt that I wore. I lifted my hips up off of the bed, begging him to touch me as I wanted to be. He complied and let his hand work its way beneath my panties. Vincent's fingers parted me, making contact where I was most sensitive. With as aroused as I already was, he found it easy enough to slip one of his digits within me, tentatively thrusting with it a few times to watch my reaction.

I cried out quietly at this first invasion of my body by him, and once more I rocked my hips, making his hand delve deeper within me. This in turn, just made me groan more.

Vincent's mouth pulled back from mine again, and he looked down into my eyes, his cheeks now flushed in his excitement. I could see that he had questions on his mind, and he was trying to gather up the nerve to ask.

"Vincent?" I called up to him breathlessly, wanting to know what was on his mind.

"Pr…protection?"

I closed my eyes and internally laughed to myself. I had never heard someone sound so uncomfortable with a simple word in my life. However, I was going to be able to put his mind to ease. "It's all right, I've been on the pill for a few years."

A fleeting smile crossed his lips for a moment, indicating that he was pleased to hear this. But soon another question came forth. "Tifa…are you ready?"

"Yes."

Vincent moved away from me a short distance and kicked off his boots before pulling his pants off completely and undoing his shirt.

I took that opportunity to ditch my clothing as well, pulling away my skirt and underpants, as well as my halter-top. That done, I turned my eyes back over to Vincent, seeing him lying there beside me, completely exposed now as was I. We both just looked at each other for a few moments. Scarred or not, his body was beautiful. He was lean but muscular, his skin an even ivory shade. Vincent's arousal was absolute, and now able to see him, I could appreciate exactly how well put together he was. And there was nothing I wanted more at that moment than to feel that body against mine.

Vincent bent to kiss me and as he did so, I could appreciate the fact that he was now shaking in his anticipation. As his lips burned against mine, his tongue exploring my mouth frantically, he pulled himself on top of me again.

I parted my thighs, allowing him to get into position. That firmness was now being pushed right against my entrance, and I thought I'd lose my mind if he didn't get to the task immediately.

Vincent moved to kiss the union between my shoulder and neck again, and I couldn't help myself from begging. "Vincent, please, I want you."

He moved to look into my eyes and he drew his hips back enough that he could reach down with his right hand and grasp himself, ready to guide his way into me. Slowly, he did just that and I cried out, sitting up slightly, putting my arms around him tightly as I struggled to get past the initial pain of being entered for the first time.

Vincent stopped advancing and locked into my gaze. I could hear him clenching his left hand beside my head, the sound of his metal fingers grating against each other giving an audible sign to his anxiety. "Are…you all right?"

I nodded slightly-- the pain was already fading and being replaced with a feeling of fullness, wonderful and complete fullness. My arousal got the better of me and I lost my mind for a moment, saying something I never would have thought I would have said in a million years. "Oh God, Vincent, fuck me…"

He growled at me and pressed his lips to mine once more as he began to carefully thrust into me. Vincent grunted quietly with each movement, pacing himself in the hopes of sustaining the experience as long as he could manage.

The way it felt as he moved within me was incredible. I was going to be thrown into orgasmic bliss and it was going to be soon. I moaned every time he drove into me, not believing that this was finally happening, and that it was happening with this man.

As I felt my body begin to respond as I neared satisfaction, I threw my head back, freeing Vincent's mouth to once more go to my neck. In my ecstasy, I made my confession. "Vincent…I love you…"

I heard him gasp and he quit moving. He looked into my eyes and knit his brow. "What?"

I was so close to coming that the fact that he quit moving just about killed me. "No! Don't stop!"

"What did you say, Tifa?"

I stared into his eyes. "I love you."

Vincent didn't react for a few seconds, driving me insane. Finally, his eyes narrowed. "Don't say things like that."

"I do, Vincent." I reached up and placed my hands on the sides of his face. "I love you and I don't want you to stop."

It was clear from the way he was looking back at me that he'd never expected to hear that said to him, either in the heat of passion or otherwise. "Do…do you honestly?"

"Oh God, Vincent, I do," I cried back to him. I had never said it and meant it more than I did then.

"Tifa, I love you, too."

We remained there still not moving, smiling faintly at one another with our bodies locked together. After a few more seconds, Vincent kissed me once more and began thrusting, this time with more force and an increased frequency. My legs came up and tightened around his waist, allowing him to go deeper.

This was all it took for me to have the most powerful climax of my life. I screamed out in my pleasure, once more reaffirming my love for Vincent and in doing so, driving him over the edge as well. His grunts became outright cries when my muscles began to contract around him, and I felt his length respond within me, filling me with his seed. His metal talons tore into the pillow next to my head dangerously close, but I was never afraid. Vincent would never hurt me.

That done, Vincent collapsed to his side next to me, panting to catch his breath, sweat adding a glow to his body. He looked into my eyes, his exhaustion not enough to hide the emotions within him. "Tifa?"

I rolled onto my side and placed my arm over his waist. "Yeah?"

He kissed me gently. "Thank you."

His oddness was unrelenting. I smiled at him. "That's sort of a weird thing to say after sex, Vincent."

"Perhaps, I wouldn't know." He'd offered me a faint smile of his own. "But, did you mean it?"

_He's never going to accept anything until he hears it about a million times, _I thought to myself. "Yes, Vincent, I love you. Accept it."

"Why?"

I groaned through clenched teeth at that. The questioning…that constant desperate search for validation…good God. "Because I do."

I could see that he was aware at that moment of my slight bit of annoyance and he relented, and just said the best thing he could have managed. "I love you, too."

A/N-- Is it still okay? I know this was what some of us were waiting for... I can keep going if y'all like, or I can just end it here. What say you?


	6. Chapter 6

Candy Wrapper, Chapter 6

Vincent remained there next to me for a long time in silence, as we just stared into each other's eyes. Eventually, our moment was broken by the intercom again cracking to life.

"Get your asses on deck. We're hittin' Midgar today before headin' North," blared Cid's generally annoyed voice through the small speaker in the wall.

"Damn it," I grumbled to myself, seeing what might have been disappointment in Vincent's eyes as well.

"We need to go, lest they become suspicious." Vincent sat up and reached over the edge of the bed, collecting his clothes.

I too got up, retrieving my outfit. "Suspicious? Come on, I don't give a rip what they think, anymore."

Vincent stood while pulling on his pants. "Yes, but do you not recall how angry you became this morning? If they had evidence of what was transpiring between us, it would escalate."

I turned around after getting my clothes back on. "Do you honestly think they aren't going to notice something at some point? Why hide it, Vincent? I'm proud to be with you. I don't want to have to go around pretending that we barely know each other!"

He walked over to me and placed a hand beneath my chin again. "And I couldn't be happier myself, but I don't want their taunts to cause you pain. I couldn't stand the notion of being the reason that you were mistreated."

"I'll fight for you, Vincent. I don't care. After this is all over and done with…we can leave them and never have to deal with any of them or their crap again. We'll be free." I moved closer to him and placed my arms around his waist, letting my cheek rest against his still bared chest for a moment.

He said nothing in reply, only drawing in one long breath.

I stepped back and looked up at him, seeing that his eyes were turned away, and that his lips were tersed. Obviously, there was something serious playing out in his mind. "Vincent?"

He seemed to emerge from his state and he met my gaze. "Yes?"

"What's wrong?"

Again, I could see him thinking, before he forced a small smile and stepped back from me. "It's nothing. Come on, we need to get going."

Once dressed, Vincent walked over to the door and looked back at me. "I'm going to go. Don't follow immediately."

I was going to protest this, but he disappeared from view before I got the chance. Vincent was determined to protect me from the barbs of the others even though I didn't want to be protected. I wanted his comfort both alone and in public. I honestly didn't care what anyone thought.

I left the room and stepped onto the bridge of the airship, finding everyone else gathered there. They were all plastered against the view window looking out and soon, I was standing between Vincent and Nanaki, seeing what held their attention.

We were close to Midgar, and the reality of what we were facing loomed in the distance. From our vantage-point, we had a magnificent view of the city, but also of the horrid fireball that dominated the sky, turning the morning air blood red. Meteor seemed suspended above the scene, flares of flame licking up from its sides as it hung distant in the sky, on its painfully drawn out decent toward the planet. The entirety of the plate was bathed in its fiery luminescence, with the slums beneath cast into an inky shadow.

I may not have ever wanted to return there necessarily, but something about the sight broke my heart. How we were possibly going to stop this tragedy from happening, I couldn't comprehend. The whole thing seemed just too big to get my mind around.

Instinctively seeking some sort of reassurance, I reached over and interlaced the fingers of my left hand within Vincent's right. He was studying the view with such intensity that he didn't pull away like he probably otherwise would have, instead, he tightened the grip. Then again maybe he, too, needed some sort of comfort. I wasn't really sure.

Cid finally spoke up, shattering the silence that had descended upon us. That seemed to be his job-- to end all awkward or reverent silences. And he was good at it, ever elegant and tactful. "Well fuck, screw it, let's head North. We don't have time to circle jerk any more."

"No!" Yuffie turned from the window and back to where the pilot had gone over to retake the helm. "I'm going to Wutai one last time before jumping into that crater on some suicide mission!"

"Yeah, an' I wanna see Marlene," Barrett added, joining Yuffie's protest.

"God damn it! We don't have time! Look out there!" Cid motioned toward the window. "That thing ain't gonna wait for us to take walks down memory lane!"

"We have enough time to go say our good byes, Highwind," Nanaki said in a low growl.

The pilot put his hands on his hips. "I'm flyin' this mother to the crater. I'll give it two days, and if everyone ain't back by then, we're goin' in without you."

I saw something flash behind Cid's eyes, indicating that he, too, had something that he figured he could do in that time, and I knew that he was going to go see Shera. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was in love with the woman. If he hadn't, she would have been rendered into nothing more than a pile of ashes years ago.

Vincent snapped to the present and turned away, pulling his hand from mine as I supposed he would do once he was fully aware that he was touching me. None of the others had noticed.

As Cid turned the ship away from Midgar and toward the North, everyone dispersed, going back to doing whatever they did to keep busy aboard the craft. Vincent and I remained before the window though, watching as the landscape changed before us.

"And what will you do?"

I turned my eyes up toward him. "I've got nothing to do. I guess I'll just stay on the ship."

Vincent looked into my eyes for a moment before staring out the glass. "I will come back as quickly as I can, Tifa."

The fact that Vincent had somewhere that he felt he should go struck me as strange. I probably frowned, I was too confused to really be aware of it if I did. "I'll go with you."

Without looking at me, Vincent shook his head just a little. "No, stay with the ship. I have to do something alone. It's nothing you would be interested in."

"I don't want to be left here alone!" I only realized afterward that my little raise in voice had caught Cid's attention.

"What the hell's going on with you two?"

I turned around to see that Cid had left the helm and come up directly behind us. I could actually feel Vincent tense up at the question and I knew that for his sake, I had to deny everything, no matter how much I didn't want to. "Nothing."

"Bullshit." Cid crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. "I heard you two going at it, my room is next to yours."

I felt the color drain from my cheeks. My eyes landed upon Vincent, searching for a way out of this.

Vincent faced Cid, wearing no expression at all. "The lady said nothing, Highwind."

I could see something in Cid's body language change. He looked around the bridge, seeing that everyone else had cleared out, just leaving the three of us. The pilot then shoved his hands down into his pockets and dropped his gaze to the floor. "Look, you guys gotta do what you gotta do. Tiff, I'm sorry for screwin' with you this morning. If you all are happy, then fuck it."

The fact that this man had given his blessing to our relationship, although be it in a slightly unconventional way, was amusing on some level. "Th…thanks, Cid."

He pulled out his right hand and scratched beneath the strap of his flight goggles, forever upon his head. Cid's discomfort with the situation was clear. "Yeah well, I saw how upset you got this morning, and I…I realized that you must really care so, who the hell am I to hound you for it? I like you, Tiff, I don't want you to hate me or think that I'm a fuckin' jerk."

I reached out and touched his arm briefly. "That means a lot."

Cid then extended his hand toward Vincent. "Take good care of her."

Vincent slowly accepted the handshake, seeming certain that Cid was messing with him, but he eventually realized that the other man was being sincere. "I will."

"Good enough. Your secret's safe with me. I don't want Cloud having an aneurysm or anything." Cid turned to go back to the helm, glancing at me as he did so. "Now go do whatever in the hell it is you're gonna do. Just…keep it down. I don't need to hear that shit."

I couldn't help it and I laughed. The pilot's good heart that I had claimed was there all along had finally made its presence known.

Vincent may have been wearing that cloak again, but somehow, I knew he was smiling in amusement as well. He looked over at me and took my hand, leading me off of the bridge. I found myself pulled to the room that he'd been sharing with Nanaki.

Vincent gazed at me as he put his hand upon the door to open it. "You need not come in."

I'd never once seen the inside of his room, and I was curious. "No one's around to notice."

"Very well." Vincent pushed the door open and pulled me in along with him.

I remained by the door, scanning the scene. One of the two beds had all of the sheets piled upon the center of it, somewhat torn up and shaped in a sort of nest. The orange fur that graced the blankets and sheets made it obvious that this was Nanaki's bed. Apparently, like a lot of cats, he had a habit of kneading into his bedding with his claws and the mattress was ruined for human use.

Then there was the other bed. I would have thought that Vincent would be the type to get up and instantly make his bed, probably tucking it all up so tight you could have bounced a quarter off of it, but no. The sheets had been thrown back off of him when he'd gotten up and allowed to fall where they had. His pillow seemed to have suffered some damage, undoubtedly from his left hand, and it's stuffing was pushing out through the punctures he'd put into it while sleeping. His sheets were also frayed from his talons. Vincent was hell on bed linens, and only slightly less so than the lion he was bunking with.

Then I looked at the wall behind Vincent's bed. Hanging there were taped several diagrams of the inner workings of various firearms, as well as charts for ammunition specs and the like. I smiled to myself. "Most guys have pictures of chicks hanging by their beds."

He turned back to face me for a moment, his eyes narrowed. "I've got a picture."

I crossed my arms over my chest and smiled. "Oh really? Show me."

Vincent shrugged and then sat on his bed, reaching back to the wall. He grabbed the lower edge of one of the charts and lifted it up.

You could have pushed me over with a feather. I went forward and looked at what he was showing me, already aware of what it was.

Beneath the chart he'd taped a small picture to the wall. It was of me, shortly after we'd…borrowed…the airship. Cid had taken several pictures of the ship, and when he'd left the camera lying unattended, Yuffie had grabbed it and had shot pictures of me and some of the others for the fun of it. When Cid had gotten the pictures developed, he'd left the ones Yuffie had snapped on the console on the bridge. Vincent had apparently taken this one of me and put it here. The thing is, those pictures had been taken around the time we'd found him. "Vincent, how long have you had that picture?"

There was a hint of color in his face and he shrugged slightly. "All along."

The fact that Vincent had possessed some interest in me from the outset gave me a severe case of the 'warm fuzzies'. I went over and put my arms around him as he still sat on the bed. "Aw…"

I could see that he was embarrassed on some level. "If you had known that was there before now you would have been disturbed, I would imagine."

"Why?" I giggled to him.

Even though the fabric strip placed around his head covered his brows, I knew one of them was cocked at me. "Not that I have, but why do males generally have pictures of females by their beds?"

I don't think Vincent ever had any idea how funny he could actually be. My smile widened and I wrinkled by nose. "Vincent…I can't see you doing _that_!"

"I said I haven't." He looked away from me and over at the picture again, before letting the chart fall back to cover it. "I've been sleeping with a giant carnivore in the room, I would be…pressed to perform under the circumstances."

I laughed some more as he got up from beside me and went over to the locker next to his bed. "You're hilarious."

"I'm merely stating the truth, Tifa." Vincent pulled out his Death Penalty and checked it, before strapping it to his body.

I lost my smile and good mood instantly, understanding that he was preparing to leave. "Vincent?"

He just looked over at me.

"Where are you going?" I asked, needing to know.

"To pay my respects."

"You're not going back into that cave, right?" I thought back, remembering when he'd had some sort of vision while we had been poking around some dank cave in the mountains. What he'd seen there none of us knew, but he'd fallen to his knees, ranting toward the outcropping of Mako and Materia in the back of the chamber, seeming to have a conversation with some being that the rest of us couldn't see. That had been a frightening and sad moment. The others had all remained toward the entrance to the cave and weren't really aware of what had happened, but I'd gone forward with him. I stood frozen in place as he'd knelt there, speaking in dark, cryptic statements to some ghost only he saw. The expression on his face during those few moments had been something I'd never seen on him either before or since-- and I don't want to ever see it again. It was a look of absolute dejection and misery, and I think that had been the first moment that I'd really noticed Vincent. That was the first glimpse I'd had at his tortured soul. It had been just a few days after we'd found him, only two and a half weeks before.

Vincent continued to gaze at me, probably wondering what was playing out in my mind. "No."

"Then where?" I got up and went a little closer to him.

"I've not said good bye to my brother."

"Your brother?" My mind raced, trying to think of any hint he might have given at some point.

Vincent came close and put his arms around me. "My brother, Tifa."

"When did he die?" I asked, looking up into his eyes, seeing regret there.

"In the Temple." Vincent closed his eyes as the words passed his lips. "Sephiroth killed him."

I stepped back from him for a moment, my mind reeling. "Well, we saw Tseng… Oh my God, Vincent? Was Tseng..?"

He nodded and then turned away completely. "Yes."

I'd had absolutely no idea. Hell, Tseng hadn't even looked old enough to be his brother. "I didn't know…"

"I never mentioned it." Vincent seemed to get a hold of his emotions and he turned back toward me. "Nonetheless, I wish to go pay my respects. The other Turks buried him close to there."

Now I understood. Vincent needed to do this alone, not wanting anyone to see him mourn. Understanding him like I did, I knew better than to push him on the subject. "Okay, just remember, you promised to come back as quickly as you can."

"I will." Vincent placed his left arm behind my back again and pulled me to him, while lowering the collar to his cloak with his free hand. He gave me an honest smile and then bent forward, kissing me.


	7. Chapter 7

No, this isn't going to end up being some long, drawn out epic like GC or JR. There's just a few more chapters to go.

Note:

Much of the following dialogue was lifted straight from the game, so yes, it probably will seem familiar. Oh, and some _slight_ smut toward the end…_slight_.

Candy Wrapper, Chapter 7

Vincent and I didn't hang out in his room too long. Once he was ready, we went back to the bridge, finding everyone amassed there. Cid had brought the ship to a stop, further north than we'd been, but still some distance away from the actual entrance to the crater that was our destination. We found that everyone else had gathered there as well.

We had walked in right in the middle of some sort of deep conversation going on amongst everyone there.

"Seven more days, that's what Grandfather said," Nanaki growled as he paced the floor.

Cloud turned toward the lion, his arms crossed over his chest. He glanced over and Vincent and myself, taking note that we'd finally appeared. "Red, you want to see everyone in Cosmo Canyon again?"

The great cat huffed. "Yes."

Turning to Barrett, Cloud then asked, "You want to see Marlene, right?"

"Don't ask me that." Barrett had never been one for deep emotional talk, and I smiled to myself at the way he grew embarrassed at Cloud's query.

Cloud nodded in contemplation. I admired him in that moment. He was showing more maturity than I'd come to expect from him over the years. In his own way, he was trying to motivate us. "We'll beat Sephiroth. Then, if we don't release the power of Holy in seven days…there won't be a planet left to protect. If we can't beat Sephiroth, we're as good as dead. We'll just go a few days sooner than the rest who'll die from Meteor."

I saw Barrett rattle his gun arm at his side, that being his universal sign for frustration. "Don't be thinkin' you're gonna lose before you even fight!"

Cloud sighed, looking over at him. "No, what I meant was… What are we all fighting for? I want us all to understand that. Save the planet, for the future of the planet-- sure, that's all fine, but really, is that how it is?"

He stopped for a second, looking over at me, his Mako eyes burning with his emotion. "For me, this is a personal feud. I want to beat Sephiroth, and settle my past. Saving the planet just happens to be a part of that. I've been thinking, and I think we're all fighting for ourselves. For ourselves, and that someone…something…whatever it is, that's important to us. That's what we're fighting for. That's why we keep up this battle for the planet."

I stood there lost in his gaze for a moment, understanding that he was telling me in his own way, right here and now that he was doing this all for no one other than Aeris. He was basically setting me free.

Barrett broke the brief silence that fell. "You're right. It sounds cool sayin' it's to save the planet, but I was the one that blew up that Mako Reactor. Lookin' back on it now, I can see that wasn't the right way to do things. I made a lot of friends and innocent bystanders suffer. At first, it was revenge against Shinra for attacking my town but now… Yeah, I'm fightin' for Marlene, for Marlene's future. I guess I want to save the planet for Marlene's sake."

The fact that Barrett, one of the toughest guys I'd ever met had made such a statement got to me and I felt tears in my eyes. I wanted to say something to him about it, but I knew that would have just made him feel more self-conscious than he already did.

I watched as Cloud turned to Barrett again, offering him a faint smile. "Go and see her. Make sure you're right and come back. All of you. Get off this ship and find out your reasons for yourselves. I want you to make sure. Then I want you to come back."

Cid scoffed. The fact that Cloud was giving the orders now was driving him nuts and I could see it plainly written upon his face. "Maybe ain't none of us'll come back. Meteor's gonna kill us anyway. Let's just forget any useless struggling!"

Cloud shook his head and dropped his gaze to the floor in front of him. "I know why I'm fighting. I'm fighting to save the planet and that's that. But besides that, there's something personal, too. A very personal memory that I have. What about the rest of you? I want all of you to find that something within yourselves. If you don't find it, then that's okay, too. You can't fight without a reason, right? So, I won't hold it against you if you don't come back."

With that, everyone started to leave the ship. I walked with Vincent away from the ship until we were alone, out of the view of everyone else. He took me into his arms and stared down into my eyes. "Tifa, is there no where you wish to go while you have this chance?"

I shook my head. "Everything that I care about, except for you, is gone. My family is dead, my home destroyed. I've got nothing, Vincent."

He'd unbuckled the collar to his cloak, allowing me to see his expressions. There was something strangely sad in his countenance that I hadn't really seen from him before. "I will be back, you know that, right?"

I nodded. If Vincent gave me his word on something, then I was going to take it to heart. I pulled a candy bar from my pocket and held it out toward him.

Vincent accepted it and tucked it away. A quick smile flashed over his lips and then he kissed me deeply, giving his goodbye. His mouth lingered against mine for several minutes before he slowly backed away.

My eyes remained closed for just a second longer, as part of me didn't want to see him go. When I dared to look, I saw that he was a short distance from me, giving me that smile of his that I'd already become very fond of. I needed to reconfirm my feelings for him before he vanished. "Vincent, I love you."

His smile became reflected in his eyes. "And I love you, Tifa. Soon."

"Soon," I whispered back as he turned and walked away. I wanted so badly to follow him, but he had made his request to make this trip alone, and I would honor that. I would honor whatever Vincent wished.

Upset and feeling alone, I trudged back to the airship. I went back up to the bridge, noticing how empty it felt. I heard someone behind me and I turned, seeing Cloud standing there.

He looked uncomfortable, vulnerable. The confidence he'd displayed while giving his little pep talk had faded and now he was again that lost little boy that I'd known for most of my life. "What are you going to do, Tifa?"

I wrapped my arms around myself. "Did you forget? I'm…all alone. I don't have anywhere to go."

Cloud's eyes narrowed in doubt. "All alone for the moment or all alone as in you have no one at all?"

"Cloud…" I hung my head and felt my shoulders slump.

"Tifa, I don't care if you and Vincent…are involved in some way, even though I can't say I understand. Like you made clear this morning, I don't have any claim over you. I blew that to hell, and I know it. We…we can't control who we fall in love with. I know that now and I'm hoping that you do, too." Cloud wasn't looking at me anymore. I could see the heartache within him.

"I do." I hadn't intended to fall in love with Vincent anymore than he'd chosen to fall in love with Aeris. The heart wants what it wants they say, and ours had both proven that. Cloud and I had always figured we'd end up together, but that had been more of a function of the expectations of the people we'd grown up around, not our own desires. I had loved him, and I guess there had been a time when maybe he'd loved me, too. The problem was that over the years, everyone in Nibelheim had become accustomed to Cloud and I always being together and at some point, they had all decided that we belonged together. Cloud and I being an item had become some sort of assumed fact, and we hadn't been able to escape it since. Then, when Aeris had come into our lives, Cloud's heart led him toward her. I hadn't understood at the time and I'd been hurt, but once my heart too came to be pulled to someone else, it became clearer.

Still, Cloud and I had been best friends for most of our lives and I wasn't willing to lose his friendship, despite our fight that morning. "If we make it through this, can we ever be friends again?"

"Why don't we just start being friends now?" Cloud looked back up at me, giving me a smile. "Wanna go watch the sunset later? I know you used to like doing that sort of thing, and…it might be one of the last ones we see."

I decided to take his offer. "I'd really like that."

We'd left the ship that evening, going and sitting beneath it on top of the hill it was moored above. We watched the sunset, quietly talking about our childhood, and of things that had happened since. Once the sun was down, we returned to the ship and turned into our respective beds for the night.

As I laid there in the darkness, I realized what time it was and in some sort of pathetic gesture to Vincent, I reached beneath my bed and grabbed another of the candy bars and ate it.

After that was done, I started to feel tired and I began to drift off, until the communicator lying next to my bed began to beep. I sat up and grabbed it, turning it on. "Hello?"

"Tifa…" Vincent's voice was quiet, reflecting that he was probably tired like myself. "I just finished the candy bar you gave me before I left and I had to check up on you."

I giggled to myself. "I just had one, too. It's sort of our thing."

"I suppose." I could hear the amusement in his voice. "I've made it a point to save the wrapper."

My giggling worsened. I tend to get giddy when I'm tired and talking to Vincent in the dark on the radio made me feel like a teenager for some reason. "Thanks. Hey, how far did you get?"

"I'm there."

I was impressed. How Vincent had managed to travel that sort of distance without the airship in one day was beyond me. "Wow, that was quick."

"I have my ways." I could hear Vincent shifting around a little. I imagined him lying on his back on the ground, staring up at the sky. "What did you do today?"

Apparently, he was feeling talkative. Of course, speaking to me on the radio like this meant that he had to be-- his usual silent manner wouldn't work too well. I closed my eyes, picturing him. "Not much. Cloud stayed here, too. I spoke with him a little, and I think we sort of worked things out between us. I think he and I will be able to be friends when this is all said and done."

Vincent was silent for a moment, and I wondered what he was thinking. "Cloud remained there?"

I tensed my jaw, thinking that Vincent wasn't pleased with this. "Yeah, he didn't have anywhere to go, since his whole reason for fighting is Aeris' memory."

"I'm glad that you got to have this time with him. You two have been an important part of each other's lives for quite some time." Vincent's voice gave no hint of jealousy or anger. He was seemingly fine with the situation. "What are you fighting for, Tifa?"

This question caught me off guard and I stuttered, "F…for a future."

His tone became wistful. "Tell me about your future, Tifa."

I smiled, keeping my eyes closed. "Well, I'm going to settle down and have a family. We'll live in a big house…and we'll have some dogs. Oh, and maybe a cat. I've never really had any pets, I want to give it a try."

He made a sound that was as close to a laugh as he tended to get. "And when you do this, will it be with the man of your dreams?"

My smile widened. "Unless you don't want pets."

"Is that to say that I am that man?" Vincent sounded pleased through his tiredness.

"Oh God, Vincent, you are." The memory of what we'd done that morning-- of us giving our bodies to one another for the first time burned through me. "You are."

It sounded like he caught his breath at this, and I heard him rustling around again. I heard something clicking against the radio, and I realized that he was holding it in his left hand, his talons producing the sound. His voice was quieter and seemed to tremble a little. "Tifa…was this morning…what you had hoped?"

As I continued to imagine him there talking to me, I couldn't help the notion that he might be doing something…inappropriate as we spoke to one another. If that was the case, I wanted to humor him and make it easy. I let my reply come out somewhat breathless. "Yes, Vincent. The way you felt against me-- it was incredible."

I heard something like a growl from him, not helping my suspicion. "The way I felt against you… I love the way you felt beneath me…around me. I loved it, Tifa, almost as much as I love you."

The fact that Vincent seemed to be talking dirty to me-- well, as close to talking dirty as I figured he'd ever get-- pleased me. I was having a hell of a time keeping my composure just from the sound of his voice and the image in my mind of what he may or may not have been doing hundreds of miles away. I had to know for sure. "Vincent…uh, are you..?"

Another lapse before he answered, his breaths now audible. "Yes."

I just about died and I had to suppress my squeal of delight. I couldn't possibly believe that Vincent did _that_, and while on the radio to me, no less. "That's all right, I don't mind. What do you want me to say?"

"Oh…" he seemed favorable to the idea that I was willing to help him along. "Just tell me…how you feel about me…"

I rolled onto my side, curling up a little. The thought of what he was doing was getting the better of me but I couldn't bring myself to give into it like he was. "I love you."

He grunted in response and his breaths stopped for several seconds. I supposed that he'd gotten what he'd wanted out of the experience.

"Vincent?"

The sounds of his breathing returned. "Yes?"

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Again, I heard his faint laugh. "I'm wonderful, Tifa. I believe that it's time for us to go to sleep."

I giggled to myself. I couldn't believe that Vincent had just done such a thing. "I know. If we keep talking, I'm going to have to start charging you by the minute."

"You shall be repaid when I return, Tifa. You need not worry about that. Keep a running tab if you so desire." His voice reflected the smile that was probably playing upon his lips.

"I just might." I moved to pull the blanket around me tighter. "I love you, Vincent."

"And I love you as well. Goodnight, Tifa." His exhaustion was becoming more evident.

I decided to let him go without further delay. "Goodnight, Vincent."

A/N-- When I finish this, I'm thinking of writing a second version, from Vincent's point of view. I think that would be kinda…fun.


	8. Chapter 8

There's more game dialogue in this chapter, just so everyone knows. I feel the need to point it out for whatever reason.

Oh, and again, this IS being written for an adult site. If you've not been…okay…with the little sex that's been in here so far, well, be warned. There's another scene in this chapter…you could always skip ahead when you get to that part.

Okay, enough with the author notes!

Candy Wrapper, Chapter 8

When I awoke the next morning, I realized I still had the radio clutched in my hand…and that it was on. I felt like a complete idiot, but I had to see something. "Vincent?" I whispered.

"Good morning," came his reply. "Fell asleep with the radio still on, too?"

I laughed to myself. "I did."

"I've been awake for about an hour now, just listening to you breathe while sleeping." I could hear him moving around in the background.

Vincent was surprising me with nearly everything he did. To hear that he'd done such a thing was touching. "I hope I wasn't talking in my sleep."

That quiet laugh of his could be heard. "You did no such thing. I'm going to get on my way now that I've had the opportunity to speak with you."

Since I knew getting to hear his voice this morning had been just a wonderful fluke, I wasn't going to try and delay him. Besides, I knew that the faster he finished whatever it is he was doing, the sooner he would return. "All right."

"Tifa, I love you."

I smiled and sat up. "I love you, too. Soon, right?"

"Yes." Vincent clicked his radio off and static came over the air.

I was a little disappointed, but at least I'd heard his voice and knew that he was all right. I felt color come to my cheeks when I thought about what he'd done the night before, but I shook those thoughts off. It would do me no good to get worked up and frustrated when Vincent was that far away.

I spent the day mulling about the airship. Cloud was either avoiding me or elsewhere. I had no real idea and I wasn't compelled to look for him. Part of me figured that he needed this time to himself. He was still mourning Aeris' death in his own way, and I figured that when he wanted to talk again, he'd show up.

And eventually, he did just that.

"Tifa?"

I was up on deck staring out over the railing, hoping on some level that I'd spot Vincent on his return. I turned around, seeing Cloud behind me. "What's up?"

"I thought maybe you'd like to go watch the sunset again tonight." He gave me that innocent smile of his-- a smile that I hadn't seen much of over the past several weeks.

Nodding, I gave my response. "Yeah, that sounds good."

We'd gone down to the hilltop we'd been on the night before. There was a cold wind blowing and I found myself shivering a little. Cloud had noticed and scooted to be right beside me as we rested back against an outcropping of rock.

That night we talked a lot more, and I told Cloud that even if no one came back to the ship that I would follow him into the fight. I knew that this wouldn't happen though, since Vincent, at least, was going to return.

The conversation then turned to the time we'd been pulled into the Lifestream together. I confessed to Cloud that the only thing that kept me from completely panicking during that horrible event was the fact I could hear him calling for me. Even though we were no longer in love with each other, we still had a deep bond.

This led Cloud to reaffirm his old promise to come and help me if I ever needed it. It was touching, but like most promises, I knew it was something just said casually.

The sun eventually dipped below the horizon and we remained outside. In our exhaustion, our talk became pathetically sappy. That tends to happen to both Cloud and myself when we're tired. We get weird, we always have.

Weird, sappy, or otherwise, we just kept it friendly. Other than to put his arm around my shoulders to help ward off the cold, Cloud made no attempts to put his old moves on me. It was good to be with him like this, but I missed Vincent.

I missed him terribly.

I felt Cloud shaking me gently, and he whispered, "It's almost dawn."

"Huh?" I cracked open my eyes, looking over at him. I hadn't intended to fall asleep out there with him like that, but what was done was done.

He laughed. "Sorry, did I wake you? It's almost dawn, Tifa."

I was still incredibly tired and reluctant to move, knowing that when I did so, I would probably be as sore as all get out. I was still a little incoherent, thanks to my grogginess. "Good morning, Cloud. Give me a little longer, just a little bit longer. This day will never come again, so let me have this moment."

Cloud gave me a sad smile. "Yeah, okay. This is probably the last time we'll have together."

It wasn't too much later when he shook me awake again. I looked over at him.

He got up and stretched. "We'd better go."

The fact that he was willing for us to take off already made me unhappy. I wasn't ready to go, Vincent still hadn't come back. "But, I still…"

He helped me to my feet. "It's all right, Tifa. You said so yourself yesterday. At least we don't have to go alone."

"Yes…that's right." I had told him I would go, even if the others hadn't returned. I figured that once inside the airship again that I could slip off to my room and radio Vincent to see where he was. Hopefully, he would tell me he was on his way and I'd get Cloud to wait.

Cloud gave me a grin. "Okay, let's go."

We'd gotten back onto the airship and made our way to the bridge. I looked around, once more feeling the loneliness of the vacant craft press in on me. "This airship is too big for just the two of us. It's a little lonely without everyone."

Cloud put his hands on his hips. "It'll be okay. I'll make a big enough ruckus for everyone. Besides, I'm the pilot. No more flying around casually like before. We won't have time to feel lonely."

I was going to protest just leaving immediately since I really did want to try and get in contact with Vincent, but I felt the airship lurch beneath us. "Huh?"

"It's moving." I heard Cloud announce the arrival of two of our teammates. "Barrett! Cid!"

I spun, seeing the two men walk over toward us. If they were here then there was hope, but then again, the airship was already moving and if Vincent wasn't here already…then I knew we'd lost him.

Nanaki then appeared, and they began bantering together.

As thrilled as I was that these three were here, I was heartsick. The fact that I was upset over Vincent not being here was soon made a whole lot worse as Cid and Nanaki began insinuating that Cloud and I had been doing something together while sitting outside. I flared with anger. "Were you watching?"

Vincent then dropped down from the hatch that allowed sunlight from the upper deck onto the bridge. He glanced over at me, not looking particularly thrilled. I wondered if he'd just heard the taunts of the others, and if he'd given them any credibility.

Cloud was startled when Vincent landed heavily behind him and he spun around. "Vincent!"

He locked into Cloud's gaze, his red eyes narrowed and without humor. "Why such a puzzled look? You don't want me to come?"

Cloud suddenly seemed very uncomfortable and he backed away a few steps. "No, it's just that you're always so cold. I thought you didn't care what was happening."

Vincent glanced over at me before training his gaze upon Cloud again. "Cold? I guess that's just how I am, sorry."

After that, Cait Sith and Yuffie arrived and the conversation between everyone on the bridge became more animated, but Vincent and I were both silent. I found myself staring at him from where I was standing, his red eyes fixed on me in return. I needed to know what was on his mind and I walked off of the bridge, hoping that he would follow.

I managed to get a fair distance from the bridge in the corridor when I heard Cid yelling as he stood at the helm. Suddenly, the ship rocked violently and I stumbled, almost falling but I caught myself. This was short lived, however, as the ship suddenly began to accelerate wildly and I lost my footing again and I closed my eyes, bracing for the impact against the steel floor, but my descent was gently halted and I found myself swept up into someone's arms.

I forced my eyes open, shocked that I hadn't hit the floor. When I realized that I was looking into Vincent's face as he held me to his chest, I felt tears come up. I threw my arms around his neck, and buried my face against him, crying. "I…I thought you'd missed the ship."

Vincent started walking, still carrying me. His voice was flat and without emotion. "I said that I would return and that is what I did."

I didn't exactly like his tone and I grew worried. I lifted my face up to look at him. "Vincent?"

He stopped walking and set me upon my feet. Vincent looked at me, his eyes slightly narrowed in anticipation of my question.

I looked back, noticing that he'd brought me before my door. I turned my eyes back to him, knitting my brow. "Are you mad?"

Vincent looked past me and at my door. "Let's go inside before we have this discussion."

I felt like I needed to humor him and I reached behind me, opening the door. I stepped inside and went over to sit on the edge of my bed.

Vincent came over and sat opposite to me on Aeris' bed. His gaze was locked with mine with some steady intent.

Instinctively, I reached down and pulled out some candy bars. I held one out to him, but instead of taking it as I'd assumed he would do, he just gently placed his right hand upon my wrist and pushed my arm away.

Now, I was terrified. "Vincent? What's wrong?"

Vincent closed his eyes for a second, and took a deep breath. "Did anything actually happen between Cloud and yourself, or were they being…juvenile?"

I shook my head. "No, Vincent! Nothing happened between Cloud and I, other than we talked."

"Last night I attempted to radio you again, but you didn't respond." Vincent looked away from me. "I knew that if you were in your room that you would answer, but you never did. I suppose that I feared that perhaps you and Cloud had done more than work through your friendship issues. Then, when I heard Red of all people…er, things…joking with Cid and Barrett about seeing Cloud and you…"

I honestly laughed. "No! I don't know what got into them, but I assure you, it wasn't based on anything that they saw. I didn't come back here last night. Cloud and I were on the ground below the ship. We'd watched the sunset the night before and then I fell asleep. That was it."

"I have no choice but to believe you." Vincent was obviously uncomfortable, to the point of drawing his left arm back up under his cloak.

The fact that he still wasn't looking at me hurt. "Vincent! I wouldn't do anything with him! You have to believe me!"

"I do believe you, Tifa." He closed his eyes again. "I'm…I'm just ashamed of myself for allowing my mind to entertain the thought that you might have…done something with Cloud. I feel like I've betrayed you by letting that idea, if even just for a few minutes, linger in my mind."

I got up from my bed and knelt before him, placing my hands upon his knees. "Vincent, don't…"

His crimson eyes made their appearance again, looking needfully into my own. He touched the side of my face with his right hand. "I must never doubt you."

"It's a normal human thing to do, Vincent." I couldn't fault the guy for having been suspicious for a while. I mean, I knew that Cloud and I being left alone for two days had looked…bad.

His fingers brushed against my cheek before falling away. "I'm becoming less human all the time…"

At that point, I launched myself up from the floor and against Vincent, knocking him back onto the bed. I'd heard him make that particular statement before under his breath, and I couldn't bear to hear the way he sounded and looked when he did so.

Vincent's eyes went wide as I laid on top of him, looking down into his face.

I gave him a smile as I let my fingers move upward to undo the buckles to his cloak. "Vincent, you're more human than anyone I think I know."

He remained fixed in my gaze, his expression still uneasy. I knew he was doubting the validity of this statement in his mind. Once again, he needed more reassurance.

When I got his cloak undone, I pushed it open and away from his face. This done, I went ahead and kissed him, and as I did so, the true depth of how much I'd missed him flooded in on me, and tears once more came to my eyes.

Vincent apparently noticed the dampness upon my cheeks and he pushed me back. "Tifa?"

"I missed you, Vincent. Cloud wanted us to take off and you weren't back yet and then the airship started moving and I thought…" I found it impossible to finish.

"I would have followed." Vincent's eyes narrowed. "I would have kept my word."

"I know, I was just scared, that's all. And I'm really sorry for not making it back to my room last night. I didn't mean to worry you." I offered him a smile.

"Think nothing of it. We are here together now. Let's make the most of it. It won't be long until we reach our destination and…" Vincent frowned slightly, allowing his words to trail off.

Suddenly, I was hit with a thought. Vincent didn't believe that he was going to survive the fight. "And that will what? I say we go there, get our job done and then run the hell out of there so we can get on with our lives, okay?"

Vincent produced the most pathetic smile that I'd ever seen in my life and I didn't know what else to do other than to kiss him once more. His lips parted to me and I delved into his mouth. In return, Vincent's arms snaked around me, holding me against him. I let my legs fall to either side of him as I felt him rock his hips slightly beneath me.

I pulled back and put my hands upon his shoulders, gazing down at him. His eyes were already darkened with passion, and looking back at me with some distant hope.

Vincent's lips were slightly parted, signaling that he hadn't been ready for me to pull away from him yet. "Tifa, I missed you, too."

I made quick work of the remaining buckles on his cloak and had it resting behind him on the bed. I also pulled the fabric strip from his hair and tossed that over onto the floor.

Vincent's lips finally relented and a faint smile made its presence known. He just lay there for the time being, seeming to enjoy the fact that I was relieving him of his outfit.

I got his shirt untucked and unbuttoned, and I ran my hands down his chest, letting them come to a rest right above the waist of his pants. "I still can't believe you're here with me…like this. I never dared to think that I would get much more than a few words from you."

He finally moved, but just to put his hands upon my hips as I continued to straddle him. The heat from his left hand was intense, even through the fabric of my skirt. "Then you underestimated your effect upon me."

I cocked an eyebrow as he pushed up beneath me again, causing me to feel that he was aroused. "I'm seeing that I'm having some sort of effect on you now."

Vincent nearly laughed, and raised his eyebrows in response. "Indeed you are."

I loved him. I loved him so much that it actually hurt. I stared down into those eyes, feeling like I was the luckiest person in the world to have gotten this close to him. "Vincent…"

He just blinked back at me, some color coming into his cheeks as his physical state got the better of him.

"I…I want you." I still felt strange making this request, even though we'd been together once before.

I actually saw his eyes dilate wildly as he processed my words. He took a quick breath, and then replied quietly, "And I you."

Knowing that I had his consent, I moved back slightly and undid his belts and the waist to his pants. I reached inside, instantly appreciating how ready he was. Within a few seconds, I had the waist to his boxers pushed down enough to expose him.

Vincent continued to just look into my eyes, with his hands upon my hips. I guess he really didn't know what all he was supposed to do in the position we were currently in, but he seemed content to let me take the lead this time.

With as worked up as I'd gotten the other day listening to him on the radio and the several times since then that I'd thought about that and our last encounter, I didn't really need any preparation. I was just as ready as he was and I decided to do things a little differently. Since I didn't want to get off of him in order to strip, I just reached down beneath my skirt, and with one hand, held my underwear to the side and used the other to take hold of Vincent. I slowly lowered myself down upon him, loving the way he caught his breath, closed his eyes, and threw his head back as I did so.

I remained still for a while, reveling in the sensation of him being completely enveloped within me. We may have only been together like this once before, but there was already something naturally familiar about his body being with mine. I allowed myself to fall forward, placing my hands upon the bed on either side of his head.

The slight movement that I made while doing this made Vincent gasp and his eyes opened up again. His right hand moved upward and under my shirt. Vincent's hand grazed over my chest, and to reward his touch, I began to carefully move upon him, eliciting groans from him each time I lowered down. I was able to appreciate fairly quickly that the contact I needed between us in order for me to actually climax wasn't happening in this position, but the way I seemed to be driving Vincent mad made it worth it. This went on for what seemed like a long time.

"Tifa…you have to stop…" he whispered out, placing both of his hands upon my hips once more, halting my motions.

"Why?" I stared down into his eyes. How he could want me to stop something he was so clearly enjoying confused me.

"You've not…" Vincent was obviously not completely comfortable talking about the situation. "I don't want to finish until after you have. Besides…this is Aeris' bed…"

That he cared that much about my satisfaction impressed me. Then again, even if I didn't climax, I still would have been happy to have done this for him. However, I was in need of release. I just stared down at Vincent, waiting for him to make the next move.

He gently pushed me to the side and then got up from the bed. Vincent let his shirt slide from his shoulders and to the floor. He then extended his right hand toward me and I took it. Quickly, Vincent pulled me from the bed and over to the wall between Aeris' bed and what had been her locker. I found myself pushed against the wall, and Vincent kissed me again, while his hands reached under my skirt and quickly pulled away my underwear. That done, he showed me exactly how strong his left arm was. In one swift motion, he lifted me up with it, so that I was sitting cradled against the wall, the metal talons that graced his fingers pressing gently into the side of left thigh.

Having me supported like this, Vincent drove into me again, now able to create as much friction as he needed between us for me to start crying out. Within minutes of having him make love to me while suspending me with my back to the wall, I felt control slip away. My arms were around his neck and I held him close. I couldn't help myself from biting him below the ear as I stifled the scream of my climax.

Vincent seemed to like this-- a lot. "Tifa…do that again…harder…"

I wasn't too sure about it, but I opted to oblige him. After I caught my breath, I traced out a new spot upon his neck with the tip of my tongue, before driving my teeth against his skin, this time with more force.

Vincent produced an animalistic growl at this and I felt something graze against my arms, which I'd now slipped behind his shoulders. Out of my curiosity, I opened my eyes, and what I saw shocked me.

I'd heard Cid and Cloud both talk about what happened to Vincent under extreme duress. They had described his transformation into the Chaos demon to me in graphic detail, but I'd never seen it for myself. He had only done it three times, and each of those times had taken place when he was in a combat party that I wasn't in.

Now, I was looking right at the wings that they'd told me he possessed as the demon. Afraid, I moved back to look at his face, hoping that it would still be Vincent. To my relief, it was.

He looked into my eyes, searching for my reaction. Vincent clearly knew that his wings had made their appearance, but he was still in complete control of himself. I could see that he wanted my approval and he stopped thrusting, awaiting my verdict.

I placed my hands upon the sides of his face. "Vincent? Are you all right?"

"I can control it still." His expression turned to one of shame. Obviously, he hadn't completely intended for his wings to deploy, but he'd gotten caught up in the moment and now they were here. "I…can make them go away again…"

I shook my head. "No. Vincent, if this is a part of you, then I accept it."

Vincent didn't yet seem completely convinced. He made one weak thrust as he continued to debate what to do.

I put my lips close to his ear. "They…they're kind of sexy, Vincent. I want you to keep going…I want to feel you …"

I heard him growl and he started to move again, making me groan softly in return. Vincent's right hand trailed up the side of my body and around the back of my neck. He now whispered in my ear. "You want to feel me what?"

Vincent wanted me to tell him exactly. I felt the flush upon my cheeks deepen. "Come."

A deeper growl came from him and his wings extended behind his back a little while his thrusts became more forceful. He begged me to bite him once more and I did, almost hard enough to break the skin. This was more than he could take. When he finally climaxed, he cried out and his wings shuddered behind him, as the sensation ran through every part of his body.

He panted and rested his head between my neck and shoulder for a few moments. I closed my eyes, burning the moment into my memory and when I opened them again, I saw that his wings were gone.

Finally, he set me upon the ground and took a step back. His gaze locked into my own, and I knew what he was looking for. "I told you that I was a freak and a monster."

I gave him a smile. "I love you, Vincent, that means all of you and everything about you."

"I thought you'd…be frightened. It almost happened the last time, but I was able to suppress it." He got his pants back in order.

I went forward and put my arms around him. "Do whatever you have to, Vincent. Anything that you do is all right with me."

I felt him relax in my arms. I knew my words had struck pay dirt. "Tifa…I will never be able to let you know how much you've done for me. I love you."

__

Well, I guess that's a little better than just 'Thank you', I thought bemusedly to myself. "I love you, too, Vincent. Everything about you. Everything."


	9. Chapter 9

Pardon the typos, I'll edit it tomorrow better.

Oh yeah, more game dialogue in this one, too.

Candy Wrapper, Chapter 9

Vincent had gotten dressed again, but left his cloak unbuckled and resting upon his shoulders. He reached into the pocket within it and pulled something forth and held it out to me. "I believe this is yours."

I smiled widely and took the wrapper from him. He'd actually saved it for me as he'd said he would do over the radio. "I do believe it is."

He shook his head and dropped his gaze to the floor. "I'll take another, if you don't mind."

I turned around and went back over to my bed, grabbing the candy bar that I'd initially offered him upon getting to my room. "Are you going to have it now?"

Vincent looked at it as he clutched it within his right hand, seeming to slip into contemplation for a moment. "Perhaps…I shall save it for victory."

I would have laughed at him right then and there, but there was something in his voice that chilled me to the core. I took a step closer and placed my hands upon his shoulders. "Vincent?"

He turned his stare up into my eyes.

"Twice now…you've sort of sounded like, well, like you don't think you're going to make it through this." I searched his face as I said this, looking for any subtle reaction.

Vincent was so damn good at hiding his honest emotions when he wanted to that it was scary. There was no reaction at all. With his stoic air in place, he gave his reply. "I apologize if I've given you any such notion."

My anxiety over the entire situation came up and I felt tears come. "I…I don't want to do this…"

Vincent quickly pulled me to him, placing his arms around me. He stroked my hair with his right hand, rocking me gently. "Tifa, if we do nothing, we all die. If we do this, there is at least a chance. A small chance perhaps, but a chance. Our path is set, it does no good to…"

His voice had wavered with those last words and I looked up, seeing the tear that was already making its way down his cheek. I reached up and brushed it away. "Let's make it, then."

Vincent's lips hinted at a smile and he nodded. "When I--"

His words were cut off as the intercom crackled to life. "Wherever in the hell everyone ran off to, get your asses back up on deck. We're there."

I shrugged. "I guess we better go."

"Yes." Vincent bent down and pressed his lips to mine. I submitted completely to the kiss, not sure if we'd ever get the chance again. He invaded my mouth passionately, holding me against his body tighter.

The kiss went on for a few minutes, before we finally stepped back from one another. I gave him a smile. "Vincent, I love you."

"I love you, too." He took my hand within his right. "We'd better go."

I grabbed one more candy bar on the way out, and then followed as Vincent lead me to the deck of the ship. Even when we got there, he didn't let go of my hand.

Cid saw us arrive and nodded in acknowledgement. We were all present and as ready as we were going to get.

The pilot pulled the cigarette he had resting between his lips out. "All right, let's get this over with."

We followed him and disembarked, finding ourselves standing before the crude cavern in the ground that had been ripped open ages ago. Vincent let go of my hand and stepped forward, looking down into the chasm. I watched him as he gazed downward, the sickly breeze coming up from within pushing his hair back.

Cloud and Cid started saying something to one another, but for the moment, I had them tuned out, being too taken with watching Vincent as he stood there, assessing the situation.

Then, a terrible grumbling roar emanated from within the crater, making all of us go to the edge where Vincent already was. That's when we saw what he did.

From within the crater were crawling up an army of creatures. They were twisted, sick things, clamoring up the walls, determined to wipe out the intruders that they sensed upon their turf.

Nanaki was to my left, switching his flame tipped tail back and forth nervously. "Look at the number…"

"Aw fuck it," Cid growled, "They're comin' out full force!"

Jokingly, Barrett shoved Cloud forward. "You go first."

He didn't seem eager to jump into the fray. "I'm fighting here, too."

"Shut up!" Barrett rattled his gun arm at his side, still sizing up the coming threat. "It won't do us no good with everyone back here."

Cid flicked his spent cigarette off to the side. "Barrett's right. You take two of us and go down first. The rest'll catch up later."

I was terrified and stepped closer to Vincent's side, needing his reassurance. Without really thinking about it, I spoke aloud. "Is this like a practice run before the real thing?"

"Yeah, a major practice run…" Cait Sith sighed back.

Yuffie gave her nervous giggle. "I'm fine with that, it's probably more fun than fighting Sephiroth down there."

Vincent looked over at me, his eyes narrowed. For some reason, the threat of a fight always put a strange spark in his countenance. "It might be fun to pass the time."

Another ear shattering roar rang out, and the time for action had come. Cloud looked back over his shoulder, pointing at Vincent and I. We were going in with him, and we were going in first.

Much of what happened after that was a blur. The three of us headed down, fighting every step of the way. The screams of the monsters that dwelt within were punctuated by gunshots as Vincent would raise his weapon and fire, killing those intent on stopping us with frightening accuracy.

Then, the monsters seemed to run away past us, no longer caring that we were there. Apparently, there was something coming that they were afraid of and no longer were we their main concern.

Vincent nudged me in the side, lifting his left hand and pointing ahead of us. "Jenova…"

Cloud took a few steps forward. "Jenova? It's coming!"

My eyes went wide as I saw this…thing emerge from the darkness before us. It was enormous-- a grotesque spherical mass, with the head of Jenova adorning the center.

We didn't have much of a chance for further reaction as it was upon us in a heartbeat. The three of us laid into it with all that we had. Vincent unloaded clip after clip into the thing, and Cloud launched into it with his sword. I went at it to, but to be real honest with you, I think the men did most of the damage. We managed to stop it and finally it fell to the ground twitching and writhing. Without any expression whatsoever, Vincent had walked right up to it at that point and placed one last round into the head of the thing, causing its tentacles to quit flailing.

We knew, of course, that this wasn't the end of it, and suddenly the ground gave out beneath us and we fell for God only knows how long. I'm going to admit that I screamed and closed my eyes, terrified that when we did hit the ground that we would be done for, but suddenly our fall was halted.

Disoriented and confused, I opened my eyes. We'd never hit the ground, but rather, we were suspended in space, a sensation that made my head spin. I put my hands against the sides of my head, groaning as my stomach turned from the alien feeling.

Cloud was close to my right side, and he seemed concerned. "Tifa?"

I looked around, searching for Vincent, but I couldn't see him. I glanced over at Cloud. "So, we did end up together…"

Further conversation between us was cut off as something emerged from the darkness before us. It was Sephiroth, or at least, I'm pretty sure that it had been at one time. He'd been somehow transformed into some large creature, Hell bent on wiping us out and ending our meddling in his affairs once and for all.

Cloud's eyes went wide. "Sephiroth!"

There was another sound from above, and all the others plummeted down to join us as we hung there, awaiting our fate.

There were a few things said between Barrett, Cid, and the others, but I didn't hear any of it. I was still looking for Vincent. There were tears in my eyes and I forgot about my nausea in my terror over what may have happened to him.

I looked back at Cloud, needing some sort of comfort. "Cloud…"

He seemed to ignore me. "It's here…"

In my confusion, I called for him again. "Cloud…"

"Holy…Holy is there…" Cloud pointed downward, toward a faint white glow that was staring in the depths below us. "Holy is shining… Aeris' prayer is shining…"

The thought of the girl wrenched my heart, joining my stress over Vincent's fate. "Holy… Aeris…"

We found ourselves dropped from the air and onto the rocky ledges around us. I hit the stone hard, knocking the breath out of me for a moment. I struggled up to my hands and knees, gasping to catch my breath. Then, I felt an arm around my waist and I was easily hoisted up to my feet, finding myself in Vincent's arms.

"Oh my God! I couldn't see you, and I thought…"

He placed one of the talons from his left hand across my lips, silencing me. "No time, we have to fight."

I nodded and offered him a smile, before turning back to face the threat. I remembered that I was fighting for a future…my reason for fighting was Vincent.

Cloud stepped to the edge of the ledge we were on. "It's not over… This isn't the end yet!"

With that, Sephiroth…or whatever he was now launched into us. Once more, Vincent's gun blazed to life and Cloud leapt from where we were standing, landing upon this thing and stabbing it relentlessly with his sword. From another ledge nearby, the others in our group also began attacking. I could hear Cid give his usual over excited battle cries and sure enough, he quickly appeared on the beast as well, his spear in his hands.

I stayed on the ledge, at Vincent's side. When the thing would get close enough, I'd strike out at it, giving it all I had, while Vincent fired, continuously fired, desperately reloading during every brief break that we got.

The creature turned toward us and lashed out at me. I braced for the blow, but never felt it. When I dared to look, I saw that Vincent had gotten in front of me and took the brunt of the attack. He was hit hard and sent flying to the side. Vincent struck the rock face with a sickening crack and crumpled to the ground. He didn't move.

I grew afraid. "Vincent!"

There was no response from him.

"Shit!" I ran over to his side and knelt down. At first, I was afraid to touch him, but finally I dared to do so. He was lying on his side, facing away from me and I placed my hands upon him, rolling him onto his back.

Vincent's eyes were half-open, and he was drawing in harsh breaths. I feared that he'd broken damn near every bone in his body. There was blood running from the corners of his mouth and I wondered if he'd punctured his lungs. He was completely unresponsive.

"Vincent? Come on! Please!" I put my hands on the sides of his face, desperate for any sign. "Vince…"

Slowly, his eyes focused on me and he groaned in agony. "Tifa…step back…"

"No, you're hurt."

He locked gazes with me. "I know, hence the problem. Get back."

The sudden change in his voice told me that this wasn't the time to argue with him. This wasn't about pride, this was about survival. I backed away, nervously glancing over my shoulder, making sure that Sephiroth's attention was still elsewhere.

Vincent struggled to his knees and reached up, unbuckling his cloak and letting it fall to the ground behind him. Every move he made gave clear indication of how badly he was honestly injured and attested to the misery he was in. He looked over at me as he began to unbutton his shirt. "I'm sorry…I didn't want you to ever have to see this…"

Suddenly, I understood exactly what was happening. Past conversations between Cloud, Cid, and I ran through my head.

"…and then the mother fucker starts taking his clothes off," Cid had laughed as we sat eating, following a battle two weeks before.

Cloud had clapped his hands together. "Yeah, I look over and see Vincent getting butt naked, I looked at Cid, and you should have seen the expression on his face!"

"Hey man, it's not everyday you see someone strip in the middle of a fight like that! I mean, I knew he was weird, but fuck! Then, he got…I don't know…like something was tearing him apart inside." Cid shook his head and looked down at the beer bottle in his hands. "Suddenly, it quit bein' funny."

Cloud nodded in agreement. "He started to change, Tifa. I mean, his skin turned this really gross purple color…"

"And these wings!" Cid slammed his hand on the table. "These big ass wings, like bats got. And the rest of him changed, too. He looked like the fuckin' devil himself."

And now I was seeing what they'd described for myself. "It's okay, Vincent…"

He looked away from me, now completely undressed. A cry escaped his lips and he bent forward. Just like Cid and Cloud had said, his skin immediately began to darken. The muscles of his body seemed to all cramp and he fell forward to his hands and knees and his wings, those wonderful and yet terrible wings of his, erupted from his back, unfolding around him. Another strangled sound came from him and for a moment, his wings drooped down around him, obscuring my view.

I looked back over my shoulder again, seeing that the others still had the attention of our opponent. When I turned my eyes back to Vincent, I felt my jaw drop.

Anything recognizable about him was gone. The demon that was there now rose up to its full height, towering far above me. He turned my direction and looked at me, taking a few steps toward me.

I was afraid on some level, wondering how much of Vincent was still inside this creature. It didn't matter, though, there was no where for me to run and somehow, I knew better than to do so. I stood my ground.

He came right before me and then stooped down, until his snout was just inches from my face. There was something in the eyes, though, those familiar red eyes that told me everything I needed to know and within them, I saw a hint of fear.

Despite it all, Vincent, even then, like that, was seeking my acceptance before he acted. I was hit with a blast of his hot breath as he remained there before me, unwilling to move until I let him know how I felt about it.

With my hand trembling, I reached out and placed it on the beast's cheek, quickly able to appreciate his snake like skin. I looked into his eyes and smiled. "I told you, I accept it all, Vincent. Everything."

The monster snorted and he nodded slightly before straightening back up to his full height. He stalked over to the edge of the ledge we were on and unfurled his wings. He screamed out, or maybe it was more of a roar, toward Sephiroth.

Apparently, Vincent was done playing and was going to get serious.

He dove off the ledge and took to the air, going forward and savagely laying into our enemy. Vincent, or rather, Chaos, fought with everything he had. His claws and fangs ripped into Sephiroth's newly found form, and the damage he caused, along with what was being done by the others, eventually took its toll. Sephiroth faltered and vanished back into the depths.

A quiet settled over us as everyone wondered what was going to happen next.

Chaos alit next to me, keeping his gaze trained out into the darkness. Clearly, he knew that there was more to come.

I looked up at him, seeing the blood that soaked his body and I grew concerned. "Vincent? Are you all right?"

Chaos glanced over at me and gave me a curt nod. I wasn't sure if he could speak like he was, but he answered in more of a growl. "Fine. You?"

I took a step closer to him. "I'm okay."

His eyes narrowed and he reached out with one of his arms. Carefully, he hooked an errant tendril of my hair that had worked loose from my ponytail with one of his claws and he put it back behind my ear.

I couldn't help it and I gave him a smile. Vincent was in there and he seemed to be in a lot more control than anyone had ever given him credit for. I reached up and touched his hand as it lingered beside my head. "So far, so good, right?"

He offered me another nod, but then looked out into the chasm once more.

There was a sound and a light from below. The sound of wings could be heard and the light grew to an unbearable brightness, forcing me to turn away. When I was able to look back, I came to realize that everything that we'd faced so far was just a joke.

It was Sephiroth, or should I say, the real Sephiroth, hovering there before us as some immense winged creature. His green eyes scanned over all of us, a self-confident smirk upon his lips. He didn't seem worried in the least.

Once more, Chaos dove from the ledge and went forward to attack, as the others moved in as well. They all put up a good fight, but Sephiroth wasn't going to be easy to kill. It was going to take a lot to wear him down and we had already been through two hellacious fights. The odds weren't looking good.

I watched from my vantage point, unable to reach the fight myself and waiting anxiously for someone to make a hit upon Sephiroth that actually seemed to faze him. Cloud was upon him and slashing wildly, his personal vendetta with Sephiroth fueling his rage. Focusing on the worst threat, Sephiroth knocked Cloud away and back to the ledge Barrett was upon. That done, he trained his gaze upon Chaos, who was diving at him for another attack.

Sephiroth lifted his hand, and just as Chaos was about to plow into him, Sephiroth released a blinding flash of energy, the heat of which I could feel from where I was at.

Chaos produced a screech was knocked back violently, and I watched as he trailed through the air and into the side of the cliff about fifty feet above me, looking like little more than a smoking ember as he went, the heat of the energy blast apparently having burned him.

He impacted the cliff and immediately began to plummet down, his wings crumpled behind him, broken and useless.

I ran to the brink of the ledge I was upon. I cried out as Chaos fell past, disappearing into the vast darkness below.

He was gone.

I fell to my knees and cried. My entire reason for fighting was no more and I felt no need to go on. I could hear the screams and yells of the others as they continued to throw everything they had at Sephiroth, but I barely took notice. My heart was broken and I didn't care anymore about Sephiroth, the Planet, or anything else.

I remained there, looking down into the darkness for a long time, until I heard distinct words coming from the others.

"You fuckin' got him, Cloud! One more!" Cid's voice rang through the mayhem.

"You killed her! You fucking killed her!" Cloud shrieked, causing me to look. I saw him raise his sword just one more time, driving it through the center of Sephiroth's chest, mimicking the death wound he'd given Aeris weeks before.

Sephiroth's wings quit beating and he started to fall into the darkness. Cloud leapt from him and landed on the ledge I was upon. He put his arm around my shoulders as we watched the monster fall back and away into the pit, vanishing from view and leaving us in complete silence.

"That's all we could do," Cloud said to me in a whisper.

From afar, I heard Barrett's distinct voice cut through the darkness. "Wait! What about Holy? What's gonna happen to the Planet?"

Cloud stepped forward, giving a reply. "That…I don't know. Isn't the rest up to the Planet?"

I shook my head, my heartache over Vincent's fate tearing me apart. "…You're right, we've done all that we could do."

Cloud nodded. "All right, everyone! It's no use thinking about it! We'll leave all our worries here. Let's go home proud."

I was staring at Cloud's back, and saw him suddenly waver. He fell forward and tumbled to the ledge just below the one we were on. I ran over and knelt at the edge, looking down at where he'd landed. "What happened?"

He was confused and disoriented. "…I can feel it."

"What?"

Cloud's eyes went wide and he looked up at me. "He's still here…still…"

"Cloud?" I called down to him, wondering what was wrong with him. I watched helplessly as he slumped over onto his side, seeming to slip from consciousness. For several minutes I watched as he lay there unmoving. I was fairly convinced then that not only had I lost Vincent, but Cloud as well.

Finally, he moved and got to his feet. As he did so, the ground started shaking and rocks began to fall. I reached out for him, wanting to get a hold of him before the ledge he was on fell, never thinking that it was going to be the ledge I was on that gave out first.

The ground crumbled beneath me and I found myself starting to plummet into the depths where Vincent had vanished to, but somehow, Cloud managed to get a hold of me. When I dared to open my eyes, I realized that he was hanging by one arm, the other wrapped around me.

He was able to muster the strength to hoist both of us up onto another ledge. As we climbed up, Cloud spoke quietly. "I think I'm beginning to understand."

"What?" I asked, standing up despite the ground still moving.

He got up as well, looking down into the chasm. "An answer from the Planet…the Promised Land. I think I can meet her there."

I closed my eyes and sighed. I figured that Cloud meant we were all going to die and be reunited with Aeris in death. Maybe that's what the Promised Land was. If that was the case, then I figured Vincent might be there, too. "Yeah, let's go meet her."

Cloud gave me a sad smile. "Hey, where is everyone?"

I didn't get a chance to respond before Barrett's voice rang through the cave again. "Hey!"

I looked over, seeing Nanaki, Barrett, Cait Sith, Yuffie, and Cid-- already with another cigarette lit up, sitting on the ledge above us. I smiled weakly up at them. "I'm glad you're all safe!"

"…what are we gonna do?" Barrett asked someone.

Nanaki's resonating voice answered. "Holy should be moving soon and that means that this place will…"

Cid stood up, his cigarette falling from his lips as he looked upward. "Oh, Lady Luck don't fail me now…"

We all stared up as the ceiling to the cavern we were in fell open and the airship plummeted down toward us. I was fairly convinced in that moment that we were all going to be crushed by the thing or knocked to our deaths, but when it reached the level we were at, the craft got hung up and stopped.

There was a brief moment of silence, before Cid gave the order. "Anyone who wants to fuckin' live better get inside now!"

Without thinking about it, I ran with Cloud and entered the craft. We all stood there inside, staring at one another, until finally, someone asked the obvious.

Cid looked over at me. "Where's Sunshine?"

With all of the stress and misery, I fell to my knees and covered my face with my hands. "Vincent…he's gone."

No one said a word. No one.

A/N-- This isn't yet the end, just where I'm stoppin' for tonight. Whatcha think so far?


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Feeling everyone's eyes upon me in those moments was miserable. I wasn't able to hide my anguish over Vincent's death and I broke down completely. "He…he knew…he knew all along…" I sobbed.

Cid took a step toward me and put his hand upon my shoulder. "Tiff, if he went down fighting…well fuck, you know that's how he would've wanted it."

If that was supposed to comfort me in some way, well, it didn't work. I remember looking up into the pilot's blue eyes, seeing regret there. "Cid…"

In a rare instance, Cid pushed his machismo aside and embraced me right there in front of everyone else. His hold was strong. "It's all right."

Cloud had tried to come up to me as well, but Cid had reached over and pushed him back. "I'm takin' care of her right now, Spike."

I cried against the pilot for a while, until we heard something outside of the ship. It was the sound of scraping metal and the ship shifted. I looked up at Cid and saw the worry on his face. "We all need to get on the bridge now and hold on. She's gonna fall."

We did as ordered, clamoring through the ship. Once on the bridge, everyone looked around for something to hold on to or brace against, but few of us had a chance to get any sort of hold before there was another screech of sheering steel. The ship fell loose, doing a nosedive into the depths of the crater.

I was thrown back against the ship's helm. My eyes fixed on the darkness we were plunging into. I wondered how long we were going to fall, but that train of thought was lost as I noticed a bright light beginning far below us. It was becoming brighter and I realized that it was Holy, finally rushing forth from the pit beneath us.

The wave of energy hit the ship and our descent instantly halted, and we found ourselves being thrown upward as the ship was blown from the crater. Alarms went off all over the bridge and Cid was doing his best to get to the controls under the situation as we were pushed higher and higher into the atmosphere.

I had been knocked to the side of the bridge by the time the ship reached the apex of its ascent, and the sickening feeling of falling once more hit me as we crested the tide of energy and began to plummet.

Cid was tossed away from the helm where he'd been holding on and back into a console. "Shit!"

I was holding onto a section of pipe that ran along the wall, knowing that if I let go, I'd be tossed around like a rag doll. There was already blood running down the left side of my face from the impact I'd suffered when I'd been hurled to my present position and my head was throbbing from the undoubtedly serious laceration I'd sustained.

Cid was literally crawling up toward the helm. His goal was clearly the red handle there, marked 'EMERGENCY'. I prayed under my breath that he'd make it for everyone else's sake. As for me, I guess I really didn't care if I lived or died. I figured that the latter was probably most likely, anyway.

I could see the stress and strain upon Cid's face as he managed those last few inches. He gripped the handle and pulled it for all he was worth. The ship continued to fall for a few more seconds, and then we were all tossed around once more as it began to accelerate upward. Apparently, whatever Cid had done was working and we were no longer falling to our deaths.

Cid managed to get up and to the helm, leveling out the ship's flight. That done, the rest of us were able to get our bearings and to our feet.

I went forward and leaned on the railing before the window, staring out at the view. We'd been thrown far enough that we could see Midgar out before us in the night. Meteor was still above it, ripping the upper plate of the city apart. Holy had done something, and was surrounding the city, seeming to contain the damage but not stopping Meteor's descent. This was not exactly the result we were hoping for.

Barrett and the others began to talk, but as I stared out at the impending disaster of the city before us, I couldn't hear them. I thought about Vincent. I had lost my reason for fighting-- I'd lost my future. As much as I didn't want the Planet to be destroyed, I didn't care about living. Watching Midgar being torn to shreds gave me a visual of what it felt like in my heart. There had been a vague hope in me that Vincent had survived his fall somewhere within the crater, but even if that had been the case, surely the eruption of Holy had killed him. His body would have been tossed out with the same violence as the ship, and he wouldn't have had the protection of the metal hull around him. With Vincent had gone my hope.

As I continued to look out, I noticed something in the distance. There was a green energy coming from the north. It snaked its way across the landscape, its multiple tendrils weaving between one another as it came forth. "What's that?"

Barrett came to my side. "Yeah, what the hell is that?"

"Lifestream," Cloud said quietly, coming to my right.

We all watched in silence as the Lifestream began to swirl around Midgar, joining with Holy. Combined, they had the power to do what needed to be done. Meteor was slowly enveloped by a white light. After a few minutes, there was a flash so bright that we all had to turn away.

When the light began to fade, I turned back, seeing something amazing.

Meteor was gone.

The Lifestream was retreating back from where it had come, and Holy dissipated. There was a red glow left in the sky from all of the energy that had been released. Debris from the damage that Meteor had done was still falling, but part of Midgar had survived. The plate had been stripped bare, and a few sections had fallen, but most of the slums beneath had remained intact.

"Thank you, Aeris," Cloud whispered to himself, turning from the scene.

I looked over at him, seeing the tears that marked his cheeks. "Cloud?"

He glanced over at me. "Yeah?"

Pushing my own misery to the side, I asked, "Are you all right?"

Cloud dropped his gaze away for a moment and shrugged. "Maybe someday I will be. You?"

I closed my eyes and hung my head. "Maybe someday."

I felt him come over and put his arms around me. He kissed my cheek. "I'm really sorry, Tifa."

I didn't say anything, and I had run out of tears. My body was being enveloped by a strange chilled feeling. It felt like my blood had been replaced by ice and I found it hard to breathe. I was slipping into some form of shock over losing the love of my life.

I stepped back from Cloud after a few moments. "I'm going up on deck for a while. I'd…like some time alone."

He nodded at me knowingly. "Okay."

Once more, I felt the eyes of the others upon me as I slogged off. I made my way up to the deck. Cid had brought the ship to a halt and we were now hovering over the plains south of Midgar.

I went to the spot where I'd come to expect Vincent to be. I knew it was foolish, but as I looked over there as I emerged onto the deck, I was actually disappointed that he wasn't there. Somehow, I guess I'd hoped that he would have made it back to this spot to stand waiting as though nothing had happened.

But he wasn't there. I was alone.

I leaned over the railing and looked down at the night scenery below. The cool evening breeze that was blowing came up to meet me, and I took a deep breath. I closed my eyes, and spoke into the nothingness. "I'm sorry, Vincent. We saved the Planet, though…and you said that the greater good was what it was all about, right? I'm not as strong as you…I can't just stuff my feelings. Fuck the Planet. All I wanted was…you."

I remembered the candy bar that I'd put into my back pocket before the fight and reached for it, finding that somehow it hadn't fallen out. I pulled it forth and stared at it as it rested in my hands. It had been crushed during the events that had unfolded, and I could tell by the softness of it that it had melted. It was ruined.

I felt another tear run from my eye and I shook my head. "Who cares…the world is just a big mess, anyway."

I tossed the ruined candy out into the void.

A hand darted out from my right and snagged my discarded treat out of the air before it had gotten very far. "Let's not make it a bigger one."

I looked at that arm suspended there before me, not daring to follow it up. My candy bar was hanging there, dangling between a few gold talons. I was in too much shock to move. "Oh God…"

Vincent pulled his arm back in and stepped closer to me, pressing against my back. He whispered into my ear. "Tifa, it's all right."

I closed my eyes, just reveling in the sensation of him against me. Part of me feared that I was imagining things. There was no way he could be here. "Vincent?"

"Yes?" he replied, his hot breath playing against the back of my neck.

I turned around and he stepped back from me. I examined him, my disbelief slowly fading away. Somehow, he'd managed to get his clothes, or at least most of them. His cloak was resting low upon his shoulders, terribly torn and waving in the breeze behind him weakly. His shirt hadn't survived, but his pants and boots were on, if not a little worse for wear. Vincent's hair fell loose as there was nothing holding it back. There was dried blood upon his body, but his injuries, for the most part, had already healed thanks to the exceptional abilities that his inner demon imbued him with.

His left hand raised up and he held my candy bar back out to me. "Are you going to eat this?"

I smiled and gave one quiet laugh before throwing myself into his arms and meeting his lips with mine. I kissed him for all I was worth, bringing my hands up to frame his face and run through his hair.

Vincent's mouth left mine and he let his lips and tongue go down to my neck as he liked to do. It sent shivers through me, but through my relief and passion, I asked, "Vincent, how did you make it?"

He growled and then replied, his mouth grazing against my neck as he spoke. "Chaos lost control of my body after Sephiroth threw me across the crater. I hit a ledge far below where you were, and for a time I couldn't move. Eventually, however, I was able to get the strength to begin climbing. I managed to get up to where we had been, but you were gone. I dressed as best I was able. I saw the ship hanging there, figuring that everyone else had gotten into it. I managed to climb on just before it broke loose and began to fall. How I managed to hang on through what happened afterward, I don't know and eventually, I lost consciousness. I awoke a moment ago when I heard your voice. I was lying over there, between the ventilation ductwork."

How he'd pulled that off amazed me. "Oh Vincent…I thought you had died!"

"Honestly," he straightened up and looked down into my eyes, "I believe I was supposed to. However, I was fighting for the future…the one you invited me to be a part of. I couldn't let you down."

"Vincent…" I offered him a smile. He hadn't survived for himself-- he'd done it for me. Despite all of his previous doubt, he had truly come to believe that I was serious about my feelings for him. "I love you."

"And I you, hence why I'm here." Vincent let the melted candy bar drop from his hand and to the deck.

I turned in his embrace and looked out at the night. He kept his arms around me again and kissed the back of my neck. I closed my eyes and melted back against him, as his hands ran over my body. His left hand came close to my face and the overpowering scent of chocolate hit me. I opened my eyes and grabbed his hand. The talon that graced his index finger had apparently pierced the wrapper of the candy he'd been holding, and now it was covered in some of the chocolate.

Carefully, I brought that talon up to my mouth and with Vincent watching over my shoulder with baited breath, I let my tongue begin to clean the chocolate from him.

Vincent gasped as I dared to do this, and his right hand snaked around my waist, holding me to him closer. "Careful, Tifa…don't get cut…"

Being well aware of how sharp the claw was that lingered close to my lips, I made sure to move with caution. I had no intention of hurting myself. With the last of the chocolate removed from his finger, I let go of his hand and rested my head back against his shoulder. "That didn't weird you out, did it?"

I heard that slight laugh of his. "I wouldn't say that it 'weirded' me out."

I felt Vincent press his lower body against my backside, clueing me in on exactly what it had done to him. Being made aware of his arousal made me smile.

"Tifa?" Vincent continued to keep the friction between us and he began to kiss the back and side of my neck once more.

"Yes?"

He put his mouth beside my ear and whispered, "Did you lock the door when you came up?"

My smile widened. Since I had come up here with the intent of being alone, I had done just that. "Yes."

Vincent purred, seemingly pleased with this information. "Good."

As he pushed into my back harder, I found it necessary to brace myself by grabbing hold of the deck railing. Since I was facing away from Vincent, there was little I could do to him for the time being, but he seemed contented the way we were. His hands ran over the front of my body, still shy in their approach.

Eventually, his hands sank to my hips and once more he whispered against my ear. "Tifa…can I?"

I figured I knew what he was after and I quietly answered, "Yes."

Once more, Vincent gave a growl of approval. His hands grasped the lower edge of my skirt and he slowly pulled it up until it was gathered up at my hips. I then felt my underwear pulled down just a small amount. I leaned forward a little further, keeping my grip on the railing before me.

It wasn't long before I felt two of Vincent's fingers delve within me. I groaned softly at this contact and tilted my hips back more, giving him better access. "Vincent…"

I felt the heat and weight of his left hand upon my shoulder. "Yeah?"

The fact that we were outside was making me…anxious about the situation. "Just start…"

His right hand slipped from within me and I heard him rustling around as he got ready. Once Vincent had exposed himself, he gently entered me, his hands landing beside mine upon the railing.

I gasped as he moved slowly behind me. In this position, there was a new place deep within me that he was able to reach. The sensation from this was intense and unlike anything I'd felt before. I pushed back against him, loving the way it felt.

I felt his mouth upon the back of my neck again, but instead of just kissing and teasing me with his tongue like he'd been doing, he started to gently nip at the union of my shoulder and neck, causing a tingle to run across my skin. Everything he did was what I needed, when I needed it. I cried out his name into the night as his motions brought me over the edge.

"Tifa…" he managed out between his quiet groans. He was still carefully working at me, not willing so it seemed, to give in yet. "Can…I ask you something?"

I let my head fall back, closing my eyes. "Anything."

He hesitated for a moment, thrusting slowly a few times. "Tifa…if we were fighting for our future…and we won…would you be willing to let our futures be just one…permanently?"

I wasn't entirely sure, thanks to the way he tended to say things in unusual ways, but I thought I knew what he'd just asked. I opened my eyes and turned a little so I could look at him. Through the lust that filled his expression, I could see some small measure of trepidation in his eyes. He was wanting an answer.

"Vincent, what are you asking?"

He stopped moving behind me and looked a little disappointed that I hadn't just answered his question. "If you would consider…" He was unable to get the question out in a blunt manner, but I now knew exactly what he was after.

I locked into his gaze. "Vincent, if you want me to marry you, I will."

One of his eyebrows cocked upward, a look of disbelief overtaking his face. For the moment, he seemed to forget the fact that our bodies were still joined. "Honestly?"

"Vincent, I wouldn't lie to you. I would love for our futures to be…just one." I picked up my right hand from the railing and covered his right that rested there with it.

Reassured and looking happy, an expression that I'd only seen upon him a few times, he closed his eyes and started moving again, with renewed urgency. I turned to face forward again, quickly feeling his resumed love bites upon my neck.

Within a few more minutes, he gave his last forceful thrusts, a cry coming from him as he climaxed. He brought his hands up from the railing and put them around my waist.

I stood up straight, letting my head rest back against his shoulder. "Vincent, I love you."

"I love you, Tifa." He held me for a long while before stepping back and getting his pants back in order. That done, he gave me a faint smile. "Perhaps we should go within and let the others know that I survived."

I nodded and gave him a grin in return. "Yeah, I think they'll be glad to know you're alive."

He scoffed quietly at that notion. "I'm compelled to believe that they might be disappointed."

I stepped up to him and took his hand. "Actually, Vincent, when they realized that you hadn't made it back to the airship, everyone was silent and Cid and Cloud…well, they cared. They honestly did."

There was a hint of doubt in his air, but he wasn't in the mood to argue. "Then let's go."

I led him down to the bridge. When we arrived, everyone turned to see us. A collective gasp passed through the group when they saw Vincent there, very much alive.

Cid came over first. "Where the fuck did you come from?"

Without his cloak buckled, Vincent's smirk wasn't hidden in the least. "Originally, Wutai."

The pilot crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm gonna pretend that you didn't just try to make a joke."

Vincent thought better of attempting any more humor with the man in front of him and gave him the truth. "I managed to jump onto the ship and I held on for dear life."

"Shit man, you scared the hell out of Tifa. She thought you were dead." Cid took a step forward.

Vincent backed up a small amount, uncomfortable with Cid getting too close to him. "Frightening her is my greatest regret about the situation."

Cid shook his head and then took another step toward Vincent, putting his arms around the other man before he had a chance to retreat again. He clapped Vincent firmly upon the back during the brief embrace. "I'm glad you made it, Sunshine."

Vincent offered a momentary smile as Cid stepped back from him. "Thank you, Cid."

Cloud made his way over as well. "Vincent…you're okay?"

"I seem to be."

Cloud glanced at me and flashed me a weak smile. "That's good."

Vincent put his arm around my shoulders right there in front of everyone, openly displaying our status as a couple. I was shocked by this, but incredibly happy. I placed an arm around his waist in return.

No one dared to make one negative comment about this after seeing how distraught I had been before when I'd thought Vincent dead. They all finally understood that I loved him and by the way he was now touching me before them, they could see that he loved me in return.

Our future had begun.

The End

A/N-- Well, that's that. I'm going to go ahead and do a rewrite of this from Vincent's POV just for fun. I'll probably start it in a day or two. As for a title, I'm debating what it will be, but I'm thinking it will be called _Her Strange Obsession._ If you like my writing, I've got some novel length Vincent/Tifa fics on under KSipesh. I have original stuff on yeah. Anyway, I do thank you for reading.


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